


The Queen of Hearts, He Called Her

by RavenCaziel



Category: Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:08:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 55,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24798205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenCaziel/pseuds/RavenCaziel
Summary: I wrote this for another site a long time ago.  This is a story about the female Courier and The King.  Raven, the courier, wants revenge against Benny, the man who shot her and left her for dead.  The King, leader of The Kings, gets to meet her and, well, a friendship blooms into something more.I do not own any of the characters in this story or anything else related to Fallout: New Vegas.
Relationships: Female Courier/The King
Comments: 15
Kudos: 17





	1. Suspicious Minds

**Author's Note:**

> I know this chapter is really short, I apologize, but let me know what you think anyway. Please.

The female courier had only been in Freeside for a few days, but she already gained the attention of quite a few people. The Followers, The Garrett Twins, The Van Graffs (although those two made her skin crawl), and The Kings. The leader of The Kings was prone to sending out various members of his gang to bring her gifts for all her "heroism". While Raven was shocked at his generosity, she was quite certain the King wanted something from her. What he did want, she wasn't sure. Asking around about the King left a particular impression that he ran Freeside, but Raven couldn't decide what kind of man he was. Meeting him would help change that, but she wasn't sure she wanted to. Obviously, his gang of Kings had been watching her for awhile. Maybe even when she first walked into Freeside and chose not to hire any body guards. Raven vaguely recalled a member or two of his organization standing by for hire. People did whatever they felt like, especially to the pain and inconvenience of others. It was no surprise that someone would have Raven tailed at some point, but it still made her feel uncomfortable even with a sniper watching her back.

As she made her way to Mick & Ralph's, Raven saw a King member running toward her. "Oh great..." she mumbled.

As the gang member reached her, she started off with the usual greeting. "Hey, you're the one who's been helping out around here, right? The King sa-"

Raven cut him off. "Hold on a second, pal. Now, it's not that I don't appreciate the King's generosity, but I'd like to know what the catch is." She really did appreciate the gesture, but from her experience she knew there were strings attached to the "rewards". "What does he want from me?"

The guy just stood there. He obviously had not expected someone to question his leader's motives. "He just wanted you to know you're doing good things around here. Your actions haven't gone unnoticed and he said to keep up the good work," and with that, the man handed her a few caps and ran off.

Raven felt a little silly. Ever since that night in Goodsprings, she's questioned the intentions of others. That bullet to her brain really did a number on her faith in people, it seemed. Yeah, getting shot in the head and buried in the ground over a simple package didn't exactly inspire her to trust complete strangers, but no one ever took the trouble to constantly reward her for good deeds, either. Raven turned to Boone, who had kept quiet as usual.

"I think I better go thank The King personally. What do you think, Boone?"

"Fine by me," was all Boone said. And with that, they made their way through Freeside to The King's School of Impersonation.


	2. King Creole

It was a hell of a thing. The more Raven spent walking through Freeside, the more she saw things that were heart breaking. Thugs wanting to kill unsuspecting victims at every turn, drug dealers giving customers their fix for Jet or Psycho, people trying to jip others for their caps worth...what exactly did humanity have to live for these days? Why did they even bother trying to make life something that it would probably never be again? Broken buildings, rotten to the foundation. Dirty streets littered with 200-year-old trash...and the bodies of unlucky scavengers.

Maybe that was why Boone had chosen to follow her, and why Raven had asked him to come with her. Boone's eyes were hidden behind dark-tinged glasses, but the woman didn't have to look into those sharp eyes to see a kindred spirit. Like Boone, the courier was an empty shell. A shadow of what once occupied her tired body. And like Boone, this woman wanted answers. The only difference between Raven and her ex-NCR companion, though, was the question.

Boone wanted to know where the Legion leader was, how to get there, and how slow and painful he would make that man's death be.

Raven's only question was...why? Why was this Average Jane important...no, dangerous enough to deserve an unmarked grave? Clearly, Lady Luck figured a dirt nap was not appropriate for the courier...who couldn't decide if that was good luck or bad luck, to be perfectly honest.

In her musings, Raven almost didn't see a mutant rat run around the corner. Her green eyes locked onto the white and furry creature, and the woman quirked a brow. Soon after, Raven watched several raggedy children run after said creature. Children with baseball bats, dirty faces, and hungry eyes. And she thought she couldn't feel more sorry for these people...she unholstered her pistol and without warning, Raven raised her arm and pulled the trigger as she aimed. The shot rang out and the children stopped running. The innocent animal that had desperately tried to run away from being a meal slumped to its side, blood trickling down the whiskered face.

After a few moments, the children jumped and down, laughing and giggling. Raven watched them run to the rat and, as they began yanking chunks of raw meat and stuffing their mouths full, they waved at her in thanks. She settled her gun back onto her hips and turned, walking in the direction of their intended destination. Boone, with only a heavy sigh, trailed behind the girl.

* * *

It wasn't so much a laugh as it was a drawn out chuckle that escaped the man's mouth, curled up into a smirk. The mechanical dog by his side was having a good day, it seemed. That, to the King, was a blessing. Normally, his dog Rex was never this chipper. The King watched the dog chase and snarl at one of the gang members who made the mistake of wearing a cowboy hat within a mile of the prejudiced dog. Rex hated hats. It brought a soft smile to the King's lips to see his friend acting like a puppy. Who knew how long his faithful pal had left in this life.

It was at that moment when Rex trotted back to his master, suddenly whimpering. The King's smile faded and he reached a hand to scratch underneath Rex's chin. If only there was something he could do to ease the suffering of his loyal friend. He had hoped this would be a good day for the old dog, but King felt he was not lucky today. As Rex plopped down on the floor, resting his head on his paws, the King shook his head and turned his head to watch a dark-toned King member dance and sing on the stage. After a few minutes, Rex perked his head up and twitched an ear, growling softly. His master noticed.

"What's the matter, boy?"

A loud thump was heard along with muffled voices. Clearly someone was not happy. The King stood up immediately and charged toward the door at the back of his theater. He would not tolerate fighting among his own clan. He grabbed the door handle and pulled it roughly, walking out with a heated stride.

"Just what in the he-" The King stopped short, his gray eyes fixed on two strangers. A man in a First Recon hat and sunglasses, and a woman in dark leather armor...who had his buddy Pacer in an arm lock over the lobby counter. Pacer must have tried to "charge" someone for an audience with The King leader. Again. Every gun in the room was aimed at both the woman and her friend.

"Excuse me, Miss, but what the hell is going on here?" He inquired, walking slowly into her line of vision.

He saw her body stiffen and heard a low mumble from her before she straightened, letting Pacer go. Pacer lifted himself from the counter as the intruder turned to the King, her eyes ablaze. "You always charge people who come talk to you?" she spoke loudly.

Yep, just like he thought.


	3. Ask Me

Raven stared at the man before her, trying her best to feign a lack of interest. So this was The King of Kings. He was...unique, to say the least. The girl had run into her fair share of characters, but this guy took the whole Brahmin steak. Unique did not do his accent nor his calm eyes justice. He was smooth. _Suave._ And he knew it. Raven was innocent enough to be completely enamored by him. Or at least _before_ she got shot in the head. She immediately returned to business and holstered her gun. The King motioned for his men to lower their weapons. As they did, Boone mimicked the gesture. Pacer walked toward the King, rubbing his cheek that was swollen, for sure. Raven laughed viciously in her own mind.

"You'll have to forgive Pacer. He means well. How much did he take from you?"

" _You mean before I tried to knock his teeth in?"_ She thought to herself. "He _attempted_ to take fifty caps from me." Raven shook her head. "Not to mention the bastard tried to grab my ass."

The King seemed shocked. Raven almost regretted ratting Pacer out when she saw King's expression change from one of civility to one that could make Fiends shit their pants. Before she had a chance to say anything, the King turned to Pacer with fury and even more shock. "Is this true, Pacer?"

Pacer snapped at the newcomer. "She had a stick in it. I was trying to get it out."

Raven would have burst out laughing had she not already despised the man. Instead, she raised a finger at him. "That stick is there for a reason," she mocked. "It keeps me from getting swindled out of caps," she barked.

Pacer smirked. "Was the stick lodged in there before or after you got that pretty little scar on your forehead?"

"Pacer!" the King shouted.

The temperature seemed to rise in the room at that point. The crowd in the room either groaned or laughed out of awkwardness. The King watched her face turn red with anger. As a preventative, Boone took a few steps toward her and grasped her shoulder before Raven could allow herself to lose control. The King faced Pacer, obviously disappointed in his friend's behavior. Pacer held his hands up, as if to surrender.

"I'm just sayin'..."

"Pacer, keep your mouth shut!" The King snapped. Pacer only responded with a groan, and his leader continued. "We'll talk about your behavior another time, Pace. In the meantime, go cool off somewhere."

Pacer begrudgingly walked to the front door, but not without giving the girl and her friend a sinister look. When he left, Raven spoke. "Is he always that "enthusiastic" with strangers?"

The King glanced at her and noticed the aforementioned scar. It looked fresh; new. This piqued his interest in the woman. "Sometimes. Pacer's been under a lot of pressure lately. That doesn't excuse him, though. I apologize for the trouble." He paused, waiting for her response.

She crossed her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to lean on one leg. "He was no more trouble than I'm used to, but...apology accepted."

The woman's expression was one of ice and skepticism. Her eyes were fierce; harsh, and a shade of green he had never seen before. Brilliantly green, and he felt a strange twitch in his gut. A few smudges of dirt on her cheeks, some blood stains on her leather armor, a few strands of dark hair failing to stay tucked in her lazy bun...nothing too abnormal out in the Mojave Wasteland, but it was her eyes that really stood out. Despite the rough exterior, the King wondered if there was any softness behind the seemingly impenetrable shell. He was so distracted by his thoughts he almost missed her speak.

"...Is there something bothering you about my appearance?"

The King blinked suddenly, regaining his composure. "Not at all, miss," he replied. "Not at all." He unconsciously added a cool emphasis in his voice.

* * *

Her cold expression and her features softened for a moment. If she didn't know any better, Raven would say he was flirting with her. Was that even possible after her less-than-peaceful entrance? Maybe he wasn't taking her seriously because of it. Oh, great. Nothing more embarrassing than being hit on by the leader of some gang who probably had enough charm and caps to never have a shortage of hookers around. The ice in her face reappeared. _"Nice first impression, Raven."_ she thought to herself. _"He'll probably ask to buy you a drink next."_

Much to her surprise, though, he did not. "Anyway, I assume you have a reason for comin' by. Come sit with me for a spell so we can get down to business."

Raven nodded, and Boone and her followed the King into the next room.


	4. Flaming Star

The moment Raven stepped into the theater, she felt a little out of place. There wasn't much to the room and quite frankly, she had expected the King's building interior to be overly extravagant. This was not the case. It looked more like a cafeteria than a theater, with the exception of the stage at one end of the room. Raven glanced briefly at the chairs and tables, finding few occupants. She took note that every single person, besides Boone and herself, were in the same clothes. Uniforms, obviously, but unless they had bullet proof vests they weren't the best selections of attire in Freeside. The courier also noticed how all the members had very distinct hair styles. One man passed in front of her and Raven wondered exactly what was in his hair. It looked slick; greasy, almost. Not the kind of grease that built up in hair after years of hygiene negligence and countless battles. Raven couldn't place what it was. Boone made a spot for himself over by the door as he watched Raven walk away. He had her back.

Soft whining took the girl out of her thoughts and she saw a cyber dog on the floor near the stage. She frowned a little as they made their way to a table. The King leaned down and scratched the dog under the chin, and the strange animal licked the hand of his master. After a few pats on the head and a scratch behind the ear, the King spoke.

"Look Rexie, someone new's come to see us," and Rex stared up at Raven with weary eyes and whimpered, and the King took a long, heavy sigh. "Poor boy. He hasn't been feeling well lately."

Almost instinctively, the courier knelt down next to Rex and let him sniff her hand. Rex inhaled through his nose a few times before licking her hand. Raven sat down and started petting the dog. She had a soft spot for dogs. Seeing the poor animal reminded the courier of her own pet dog from what seemed like a lifetime ago. Cybernetics excluded, Rex was the spitting image of her furry childhood playmate. They even had the same eyes. Before Raven could slip back into those memories that would more than likely lead her to pain and an urge to drown them in scotch, Rex scooted forward a little and rested his head into her lap.

* * *

The King was surprised at not only Rex's immediate ease with the girl, but the girl's affection for his loyal friend. Rex was a sweet dog but he usually didn't warm up to strangers that easily. The girl's face no longer held the ice and bitterness that was there not even five minutes ago. She wore an expression of pity, no...sadness. A sadness, he figured, that could only come from someone who already experienced what he was currently going through. The inevitable loss of a dear friend. The King had inquired several times to Julie Farkas up at the Old Mormon Fort about helping Rex, but there was nothing they could do.

* * *

" _We just don't have the necessary supplies or know-how for any sort of treatment. I'm sorry but all we can do is make Rex comfortable until he-"_

_Several chairs and a couple of tables toppled over as the King stormed out of the tent. One of the doctors came rushing up behind him, obviously angry at the King's behavior. The doctor grabbed him by the shoulder as he forced him to turn around. "Hey, you got a lo-"_

_The King's balled fist smashed into the man's face, and the doctor stumbled over into a pile of sandbags. He had half a mind to kill the next person that tried to reason with him. There was no room left to "reason" with the King at this point. He turned and walked with a heavy heart to the large wooden doors._

* * *

The King snapped himself out of the memory, remembering where he was. "I'm sorry. I seem to have misplaced my manners." He held out a hand to offer a hand shake. "I'm the King, leader of The Kings...but you probably already knew that."

Raven hesitated for a moment, then gently lifted Rex's head from her lap before briefly shaking the man's hand. "Raven Wagner. Courier. You probably already knew that."

They both stood and the King motioned for her to sit at the table as he took his own seat. "A courier, huh?" he smiled as if a revelation had been revealed. "So you're the one who's been running around doing favors for everyone around here. I should have known."

Then again, he had no clue that the woman had a short-fused temper to go along with her good deeds. The King previously assumed she was some sort of goodie-two-shoes fresh no more than sixteen years old with a naïve view of the Mojave. Instead, he was staring into the eyes of a dangerous twenty-something woman with a fire in her soul and an outfit to match. Ain't that a kick in the head?

"So, Raven...what can I do for you?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, suddenly looking lost. "Actually, I was wondering what I could do for you."

The King quirked an eyebrow. "Pardon?"

The courier rested her arms on the table, crossing them as she leaned in a bit. "Well, I keep running into your Kings and they keep bringing me stuff. Things that you told them to give me for 'helping out around here'. I figured it was some sort of incentive to come see about a job."

The King shifted, highly amused. "Well, that's not how I 'recruit' people, Miss Wagner. Those gifts had no strings attached." He hadn't considered offering any jobs to her because of his previous assumptions, but now that he finally met the woman face to face... "You've earned it. More good has come out of your arrival a few days ago than my actions in a month. I know you have places to go and people to see but now that you're here, I could use your help with something. If you're interested."

Raven sheepishly smirked, realizing now the impact she was making on Freeside. "Well, I-...thank you, Mr. King." Raven thought for a moment. "By all means, lay it on me. What do you need done?"

The King smiled at her warmly. "Well, I'll start you off with something easy." He knew she was capable of more, but there was a point to this. "And it'd be more of a favor, really. You do this and I'll have some more work for you when it's done. Sound good?" He wanted to know how people talked her into doing favors for them.

* * *

Raven smirked, as if she knew what he was up to. She was dense at times, but a blind man could see the King's curiosity. "Absolutely," she replied. This was going to be interesting.


	5. Treat Me Nice

Good god, she felt uncomfortable as hell. Boone did not share her sentiments about the "tourist" clothes. It was smart to wear something besides the usual armor while pretending to be innocent suckers. When Boone and Raven went shopping, all they could really find were a few sets of pre-war clothes. She got talked out of wearing the plaid vest and beige slacks by Boone. When she asked why, his explanation was frustrating, but valid.

* * *

" _You really think this Orris guy is going to take you seriously if you're dressed up like that?"_

_Raven grunted. "How would wearing a dress make him take me seriously?"_

_Boone smirked at her as he lowered his sunglasses a little, staring at her. "It won't, but he'll be too distracted to care."_

_Yeah, exactly what she wanted to hear. A man staring at her ass while playing her bodyguard around Freeside. "You sure know how to make a lady swoon, Boone," she uttered as she reached for a green dress._

* * *

Raven walked at a sluggish pace as she approached the north gate. Boone was already in position with his rifle on top of a building somewhere. They both decided it was less suspicious if she went alone. Why would she want a bodyguard if she already had another with her? Made perfect sense. Her friend from Novac assured her that he would shoot Orris if the asshole tried anything. Raven was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she knew this. But ever since Goodsprings...well, it was just nice to have someone watch her back.

A breeze blew up against her, causing the skirt of the green dress to dance in the wind. And to expose her milky white thighs, as well. A few bystanders noticed this as she pushed the skirt down, her cheeks flushing a bright red when they whistled at her. The girl really wished she had her pistol handy to shut them up. As she pretended to find something interesting on the ground, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and continued her pace. Just then she saw something flash out of the corner of her eye. She looked up immediately, but Raven saw nothing that could cause it so she shrugged it off. Raven almost thought she heard a very loud and very distinct laugh up on the nearest building and shook her head. At least Boone was getting a kick out of her situation.

Raven walked toward a few men by the gate. A man in spiked metal armor saw her and his lips curled into a lustful smile. The courier felt his eyes travel below her neck and her spine shivered in disgust, and all too familiar feeling. Faking a smile and batting her eyelashes at him made her feel sick.

"Excuse me, but are you Orris?"

The man nodded. "If you need to cross Freeside, no one will keep you safer than I will." He smiled again, this time a bit more sincerely and less crudely.

"So I've heard. How much for your services?" she asked.

"Two hundred caps gets you my watchful eye for a trip to the south gate." he answered, licking his lips at the end.

Raven wanted to punch him. Kick him in the balls. Hell, she wanted to kill him. _"Maybe I could pay him more to keep his eyes to himself,"_ she thought. Instead, she took a deep breath in order to keep her 'damsel in distress' face on. "Okay, I'll hire you."

"Done and done." After reaching into her bag and handing him two hundred caps, he escorted her away from the other men with a gentle hand at the curve of her back. "I want to mention a few things up front. In order to ensure your safety..." he continued, leaning into her ear a little to whisper. It made Raven's skin crawl. "I need you to follow my instructions to the letter. We'll be heading down the main street here the whole way. No detours. You go off sightseeing and I go off to find another customer."

" _Yeah, right."_

"Now, usually I keep a brisk pace but..." he rubbed Raven's back suggestively. "We can go slow, if you want."

Yep. She was going to kill him.

* * *

Boone set himself up on a roof and kept himself crouched as he looked through the scope of his rifle. He immediately found his partner just in time for a gust of wind to catch her outfit. He chuckled to himself as he watched her body language. He saw movement as she attempted to regain her confidence and he aimed his rifle at the corner of the building. His jaw dropped when he saw a man with a camera taking her picture. A man wearing a leather jacket and black pants with another grease in his hair to lubricate a jet engine. Despite himself, the sniper with the 1st recon hat became capricious with laughter. It was childish at best, but Boone had to give credit where it was due. He doubted their leader knew Raven would be in a dress, but the sniper knew what the deadly courier's reaction would be if she ever found out about it. _Priceless._

* * *

All she wanted at this point was a nice, hot bath to soak in. Or at least a small tub to soak her ankles and feet in. Raven was pretty sure her feet were the size of gecko heads by now. _"I am never wearing high heels EVER AGAIN!"_ she yelled inside her head.

Orris suddenly stopped walking, and she was thankful for the rest. Her hopes were short-lived, however. The cocky bodyguard turned to her and said, "Hold on. I don't like the look of some of those men ahead. Let's take a different way around."

Raven looked past him and saw some men up ahead. There were four men just...standing there. What was this guy up to? The King told her to spot suspicious behavior. Well, this was pretty damn suspicious to her. Convenient, as well. Taking a different way around meant a detour into a secluded area.

" _Shit."_ Raven was hoping Boone managed to keep up. In an attempt to fake fear, she widened her eyes at Orris. "O-Okay."

Orris smirked at her. "Relax. Just hang on to me if you're scared. I won't let anything bad happen to you."

" _Says the wolf in sheep's clothing..."_ she thought to herself.

Before she could say anything, Orris wrapped an arm around her and led her down the side street. As they walked, Raven saw movement in her peripherals. She caught a glimpse of a maroon colored beret and smiled to herself. Orris saw her smile and mistook it for something else entirely. He held her closer to him and Raven felt the urge to snap his neck rise with heat into her eyelids. She couldn't wait until this stupid thing was over. First thing she wanted to do - after changing into decent clothes – was go back to the King's place and stab him in the leg with a fork. No, it wasn't the King's fault. It wasn't his idea to get her dolled up in a dress. It was Boone's idea. She was going to stab the sniper in the leg with a fork.

Orris abruptly pulled her behind a rusted old car and looked into her eyes. "Wait here a second. I'll deal with these no good punks."

Nodding in agreement, Raven crouched down as Orris turned and ran toward the corner. Her eyes hardened as she immediately hustled in a crouch to the side of the car to take a peek at where he was going. As she neared the front, she lifted her head slightly. Just in time to see him pull out his gun and fire three shots. Four men fell down instantly. Raven narrowed her eyes as she lowered herself and scooted to the back of the car. Three shots, but four men? Either this guy was a good shot or he was complete shit. Heavy footsteps soon approached her, and she looked up at Orris. She faked a look of shock as he grabbed her by the arms and helped her stand up. The woman didn't know if he was a being chivalrous or pushy. He smiled at her gently.

"See? Nothing to worry about. If you had hired one of those other hacks, you'd be up to your ass in lowlife right about now," he said.

Raven looked over at the men by the corner, but raised a brow and looked back at Orris pretending to be surprised. "Hey, you only fired three shots and there are four guys there..."

Orris looked unhinged at the revelation. "Er, noticed that, did you? I keenly aimed one of the shots through some soft tissue of one of them to hit the man behind him."

" _Brahmin shit...total bullshit. Even Boone isn't that damn good."_ Raven's stifled laugh was seen as an impressed giggle. Orris pulled her closer to him and immediately she grew nervous. "Well, I suppose we better get going."

When she tried to move away, Orris tightened his grip. "Hey, what's the rush, honey?"

"U-Um..." she stammered. "I have an appointment." _"For fuck's sake, Raven. That's the best you can come up with?"_

"Now now, don't lie to me, baby. Don't tell me you didn't feel a connection with me." He leaned in closer, blowing hot breath on her neck.

She turned her head away in disgust. She looked at where the fallen men were...only to find them gone. She had a sinking feeling in her gut when she heard yelling and loud noises up on the roof of the building behind Orris. Before she could stop herself, she yelled out her companion's name.

Orris snickered. "Oh, so you do know him. Too bad. Guess you got no where to run." He grasped the back of her neck, while his other hand savagely lurched onto a clothed breast.

His lips were smashed onto hers as she let out a scream.


	6. All Shook Up

The sharpness of his goatee grazed her skin roughly. He roughly grabbed her hands and pressed his entire body against her and she cried out as sharp metal sliced into the skin of her shoulder. Raven struggled against Orris but he didn't budge. This only made him laugh as he rubbed his groin against her. His mouth left hers and he laughed even harder at her. Raven held back a sob when he wrapped a hand around bother her wrists, leaving his other hand free to do as he pleased. Tears threatened to overfill her eyes. There was no chance in hell she was going to let this happen to her. Not again. As Orris' grasped the hem of her dress and yanked it up for easier access, Raven spit into his face. He growled in disgust and leaned in again to cover his mouth over hers. In a flash she pushed forward and latched her teeth onto his cheek. Orris let out a shriek as he felt hot blood gush down his face and neck. He yanked her away and clutched his face, hot tears stinging his dark brown eyes. Blood stuck to her lips like deep red lipstick and her body shook from the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Raven spit on the ground and red saliva stained the ground.

"You fucking BITCH!" he yelled as he pulled out his gun.

In no time she grasped the brass knuckles from beneath the ribbon of her dress and decked Orris in the face with it. Hard. He felt over, shocked and in pain. Raven stood over the man who assaulted her and gave him a swift kick into his face. He rolled over as he sobbed in agony. Her thoughts went back to Boone and she gasped his name. She turned to see Boone wobbling out the building, covered in blood and chunks of flesh. Raven forgot about Orris completely and ran to her injured companion. She grabbed him gently and frantically searched his body for any serious wounds.

"My god, Boone. Are you hurt? Are you ok? What happened up there?" she asked, her mouth moving a thousand miles a minute.

As the sniper assured her that he was fine, they both failed to notice Orris slowly getting up and pointing his gun at them. When she heard the click of a gun hammer, Raven turned to see Orris smile maniacally at her. Before she could react, a shot fired off to her left and Orris screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. His gun jumped helplessly out of his hand. Raven turned to see the King along with a few other members of his gang. The King's gun was smoking at the tip as he kept his eyes on Orris. Her knees felt weak from both the traumatizing experience and the look in the King's eyes. His cool gray eyes held a fury that an ocean couldn't dream to quench and it was damn near frightening to her. She only hoped he never looked at her that way.

"Are you two alright?" the King asked softly. With a swift gesture of his hand, his underlings went to subdue Orris.

Raven sighed in relief. "Yes, I think we're ok." She turned to Boone. "Hey, what happened on the roof?"

"Ah, well...it seems those men that Orris 'took care of' came up when you weren't looking and uh, caught me by surprise." Boone grunted in pain. "They're dead, but I...think they broke my leg."

Any other woman would be completely inconsolable right now. Raven was not that type. At least not while her friend needed her. She wrapped an arm around him and he lazily placed an arm over her shoulders. Raven looked at the King who was watched him them closely. He lowered his gun to his side.

"I need to get him some medical attention." she uttered, almost like she was asking for permission.

"Good idea. Just drop my name at the Old Mormon Fort and they'll give you everything you need. And don't worry about the cost. They can bill it to me."

They inched slowly toward the corner. As they got to it, Raven stopped and looked at the King. She looked unsure of something, and the King softened his face. Her hand lifted and she placed it on the King's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "...Thank you, Mr. King."

The King gave her a soft grin, pressing his hand onto hers. "You're welcome, Miss Wagner."

* * *

Something passed between the two. Understanding, respect, gratitude, and something else neither one of them could place. Her hand lingered for a moment before it slipped away and Raven started walking away with Boone. The ghost of her touch caused a reaction inside his chest that he wasn't ready to acknowledge. Maybe another time, but not now. His true focus was the rising anger that he felt toward a certain bodyguard. His eyes returned to a furious glare and he strolled over to Orris. His men held Orris by his arms and the King's fist smashed into his nose. Orris cried out as blood gushed from his nostrils. The King, usually calm under pressure, wanted to make this man suffer. His blood boiled as he recalled what he saw when he came around that corner. It was forever burned into his memory.

* * *

_The King ran fast and hard, his men almost unable to keep up. According to a few women from Primm, Orris had a less than reputable way of courting the girls he wanted. Ex-NCR and a sadist. He was certain Raven could handle herself until one of his members ran in to tell him that Raven was doing a good job and had even dolled herself up in a dress to play the part of an 'innocent tourist'. Orris seemed to favor women in dresses. He got up instantly and ordered a few men to follow him as he ran out to the door. Rex shot up but the King told him to stay. With a whimper, the dog obeyed._

_When he got to the corner of where she was last reported, he peeked around and saw a horrible sight. He felt like an anvil was settling into his stomach. Orris had the woman pressed up against the car with part of her dress up. The King watched with amazement as the defiant woman spit into Orris' face, and was bewildered when she bit his cheek. This woman was a pistol._

* * *

The King placed the end of his gun onto Orris' forehead.

"You're finished, Orris. I'm going to make damn sure that you beg for death by the time I get through with you." the King hissed angrily.

* * *

_She had pain. Everywhere. Her gloved hands were tied together and she was confused. She had no idea where she was. Inaudible voices flooded her ears and the throbbing pain in her head reacted to it like nails on a chalk board. She tried to stand up but couldn't. She almost groaned in agony as she strained to hear what they were saying despite the pulsating sensation in her head._

" _...what you were after. So pay up."_

" _You're cryin' in the rain, Pally."_

_She heard something moving around and she tried to get her wrists free. They were snagged tighter than a chunk of bone stuck between a death claw's teeth._

" _Heh, guess who's wakin' up over here?"_

_Shit._

_She slowly looked up to see three men before her, one of them holding a shovel. Her vision improved a little and she noticed one of the men was in a checkered jacket. She watched him take a drag of his cigarette and his eyes settled on her like a Legion mongrel locking onto its prey._

" _Time to cash out," he said as he tossed his cigarette down and put the burning tobacco out with his foot. He paced slowly toward her._

_One of them was impatient and obviously had a guilty conscience. "Would you get it over with?" he snapped with outstretched arms._

_Get what over with? What was going on?_

_The checkered man held up a finger to shut him up. "Maybe Khans kill people without lookin' 'em in the face. But I ain't a fink, dig?" the impatient man sneered while the other reached into his jacket for something. He pulled out a small white chip...the chip she was supposed to deliver. "You made your last delivery, kid. Sorry you got twisted up in this scene," he paused as he put it back in his jacket. The chip was replaced with a gun. "From where you're kneeling, must seem like an 18 karat run of bad luck."_

_Fuck. No. Why are you doing this? Don't do this! I didn't do anything!_

_The mam aimed his gun at her and the men behind him lowered their heads._

_DO SOMETHING! Why won't you stop him? Please!_

" _Truth is," the man with the chip continued with a look of pity on his face. "The game was rigged from the start."_

_A wave of horror and panic washed over her as a burst of flame emitted from the gun, and then there was nothing._

Raven shot up from the bed completely covered in sweat. Her breaths were ragged as she tried to remember where she was. Moonlight shot through the window and she turned to it. The moon was just like the one in her dream. Typical. It had been almost a month since she woke up at Doc Mitchell's place, and every night she had the same god damn dream. Raven wondered if it would ever stop. She wanted the bad memories to stop. The small woman hugged her legs to her chest and took a deep breath, and as Raven rested her forehead on her knees hot tears rolled down her cheeks. It wasn't her brush with death that made her miserable these days. Even though this particular dream was a nice change of scenery, her mind was plagued with inner demons before the dirt nap. No, dying was not the problem. Dying and then being brought back to the land of living was like a cruel joke.

Even though the courier had been scared out of her mind right before Benny pulled the trigger, the nothingness that followed brought her peace. The whole point of tracking the bastard down was either killing him for not making sure she was dead or thanking him for the effort. So whenever anyone told her she had a death wish, they had no clue how spot on the statement was. But Raven couldn't deny that her body was still walking around for a reason. Yeah, just her body. The girl she had been was still in a grave in Goodsprings Cemetery and was replaced by a bitter and almost suicidal carbon copy. If she survived her encounter with Benny, Raven would make a mental note to bring desert flowers to that grave once a year.


	7. Don't Be Cruel

The King hadn't expected her back so soon. Yet here she was, sitting with him in the theater and rubbing Rex on the neck. She was silent and just stared at Rex for a few minutes. The King's lips curved downwards into a sympathetic frown. Had she come here to talk, or had she come just to be in his company? Neither one was a burden but this uncertainty was foreign to the King of Kings. He would give Raven the time she needed. She had gone through a lot the day before and he didn't want to rush it. As if sensing his confusion, the courier shifted her eyes to his face and leaned back in her chair.

"I came to give my report on Orris, Mr. King. Would now be a good time?" she asked.

Back to business, it seemed. "Of course, Miss Raven. What do you have for me?"

"Orris is a fraud. He fakes attacks on his clients and then plays hero," she replied.

He leaned back in his chair, pretending to be surprised. The King already learned this by making Orris talk the previous night...before the tortured bodyguard bled to death, of course. Still, no reason for her to know that and this was an opportunity to get to knew her better.

"So that's how it happens... Okay, then. But due to...recent actions on his part, I didn't think it wise for him to be a bodyguard for hire on my streets. I took care of the issue, but I appreciate you bringing me your findings."

Raven nodded, not really wanting to know how he took care of it. "Not a problem, sir." She gave him a little salute and it made him smile.

The King would probably never figure out why he found her to be so damn adorable. "Before we continue our business, I'm curious..." he stopped his words and scooted his chair closer to her, decreasing the distance between them. Raven leaned in closer, thinking he wanted to keep some delicate information 'hush hush'.

"Ok," she whispered. "What's on your mind?"

It took her by surprised when he rested a hand on her arm, as if to provide comfort. "How are you feeling, Miss Wagner? What happened yesterday couldn't have been easy for you."

For a moment, the King thought he saw her eyes lose the harshness he was so accustomed to seeing in her. For a moment that he wanted to stretch out for eternity, the King saw a piece of her shell break off and expose a tiny bit of her tender form. Then it went away as fast as it had appeared.

"I'm fine. In fact, I wanted to thank you again for what you did. Boone gives his thanks as well," she said.

"It was the least I could do for putting you and Boone in danger like that. Besides, medical bills can be costly these days."

* * *

Raven blinked. She was grateful to the King for picking up the tab, but that wasn't what she was referring to - not exactly. "Very true, and I thank you for that...but I was talking about you stopping Orris before he...if you hadn't been there when he..." she took a deep breath and slipped her hands into her lap. _"Pull yourself together, woman! Just calm down and thank the man for saving your ass!"_

She was thankful, but at the same time...Raven wished he hadn't shown up at all. Then again, where would that leave Boone? In the gutter. No, she had a responsibility. Several responsibilities, in fact. What kind of person would Raven be if she died before all the promises she made were complete? Raven had to stop thinking this way, at least until she put a bullet in Benny's head. That promise...the courier was saving for last.

* * *

The King lifted the palm that rested on her arm to place it on the top of her hands. Perhaps he shouldn't have brought it up, but for the sake of curiosity, "Miss Wagner, I haven't been up front with you about something. I would like to clear the air."

"Oh?" she asked. Raven's green eyes pierced into his face.

"I...showed up about a minute before intervening," the King swallowed hard.

Raven quirked a brow, obviously confused. "So you just watched me for a minute before doing anything? Why?"

"I figured you had it covered when you took a bite out of him," he replied. That was not the only reason why the King stopped himself from interrupting the attack, but it was the main one. He took her for being too proud a woman to accept his help without question. It wasn't until she touched his shoulder that day in appreciation when he realized that pride did not hinder her at all. Clearly, she knew how to show gratitude when she thought it was due. "Then you left him there to help Boone, leaving yourself wide open for him to attack again. Almost like you had a death wish or something..." he continued, expecting the young woman to be cross.

Much to his surprise, though, she did something the King never expected her to do. Raven burst out laughing. The King wasn't sure what the joke was, but seeing her laugh like that brought a smile to his face. The King found himself with ambition to find more reasons to make her light up in the way she was doing now. Rex started barking at her as if to join her laughter.

* * *

Raven covered her mouth in a futile attempt to muffle her cheery cackling. If only he knew the morbid reasoning behind that laugh, the courier knew the King wouldn't be smiling about it. She didn't feel inclined to spoil the mood, however. Especially with the way he was beaming at her. There was a tenderness in the man's eyes that she found alluring. The epiphany of it rattled Raven to the core, but not in a way she expected it to. Certainly not in a bad way, but she still she opposed of it. Her laughing ceased and she sucked in a heavy breath, reaching her hand to Rex. She began scratching behind his ears again and he settled his head into her lap contently.

"Gee whiz, I'm sorry about that. It's just, well, I get that 'death wish' thing a lot. Boone and I even have a bet going on just for that reason." Ok, that last bit was a flat out lie but Raven didn't want the King to question it.

"No need for apologies, Miss Wagner. As a matter of fact, your laughter is quite welcome around here," said the King as he leaned back in his chair, looking quite pleased with himself.

" _Oooooh, now he's being smug,"_ Raven thought to herself. _"Two can play at that game."_ Her eyes narrowed at him with a glint of confidence. "Is that so?" she said with a devilish grin, her arms intertwining with one another. "Then perhaps you can tell me precisely what compelled you to have my picture taken yesterday?"

* * *

The look on her face, the way her body shifted, the undiluted boldness that suddenly presented itself hit him hard. Surely, he was going to need a very cold shower after this meeting. The King was sure his face looked like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar when Raven mentioned the picture. "Ah, that," he smirked. "Well, I have my men take photos of everyone who enters Freeside in order to keep tabs on them. A lot of people here tend to blend in together and it gets hard to tell who's whom in this town. I like to keep all my bases covered."

* * *

Raven's grin twitched. She was going to buy Boone something nice for bringing the subject to her attention. "So why wait three days to take mine?"

* * *

"I was waiting until the right opportunity presented itself. However, catching you in a dress was unexpected," he answered calmly. _"But well worth the extra picture,"_ he continued in his mind.

* * *

It was at that moment when Raven no longer felt uncomfortable about the King's gang watching her every move. She would be stupid if she didn't think this man was the devil in disguise, but Raven had no quarrels with it. It surprised her, though, and the fact that he was keeping an eye on her was comforting even if it was just part of his protocol. There was no going around that. Why the King chose to bide his time until she was quite out of place with herself, however, was beyond her. In all seriousness, Raven wasn't sure she wanted to tread down that path by questioning it. Not yet, anyway. With a gesture of her head, Raven shifted back into her professional mannerisms.

"So, what's next on the agenda, Mr. King?"

* * *

The King returned to his cool, collected exterior as he explained to Raven the next 'favor'. He specifically chose one that wouldn't require her to play at innocence with rapists, or to have her wear a dress. This time, he wanted her to check up on some friends of his at the Old Mormon Fort. Quick, easy, and no bullets required. When he finished, Raven stood up and gave him a salute, telling him she would get right on it. The King seemed pleased with her enthusiasm and told her to come back when she was done. As she turned to leave, Raven looked down at Rex with a frown.

* * *

"He doesn't seem very happy," she observed. The courier doubted it was just a tummy ache that made Rex so miserable.

The King mirrored her expression. "He's been acting peculiar for some time now. I took him to the Followers and had him checked out, and they said his brain is bad or something."

As she studied Rex's brain, she did notice it looked a little worse for wear. "Can they do anything?" she hoped.

"No," the King sighed with regret. "They said they don't have the tools to help him."

Raven's eyes saddened as she looked at the King. "Is he going to be okay?" she hoped.

The King's head lowered heavily. "For now, but they said eventually he's going to get worse. I..." he ran a hand through his jet black hair, "...don't know what to do.

Raven's heart went out to him and Rex. "Can I help somehow?" she asked.

* * *

The King was floored at her generosity. "I don't know. Maybe. If you found a way to help my poor Rex here," he paused, his gray eyes pleading with her, "I'd be much obliged." He stood from his chair. "Your best bet would be to talk to Julie Farkas over at the Old Mormon Fort. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did."

* * *

Since she was going there anyway, two birds with one stone seemed the best phrase that fit. With a serious gaze, she rested her palm on the King's shoulder. "I will find a way, Mr. King. You have my word." Before he could react, she removed her hand and crouched down to Rex. He licked her face and she chuckled. "Don't worry, boy. You'll be better in no time."

* * *

As Raven walked away, the King felt a lump in his throat. _"Please,"_ he thought. " _Don't let my hope be in vain...Raven."_


	8. Cross My Heart and Hope To Die

If she didn't have respect for Julie's cause, Raven would have ripped out the doctor's god damn throat. She could not believe what she was hearing. Raven began pacing back and forth in a controlled rage and she was glaring at Julie Farkas with daggers in her eyes. The courier replayed everything in her mind on what Julie had said.

* * *

_Raven pushed open the tent and saw a woman with a purple mo-hawk wearing a white lab coat. She raised a brow as the doctor turned and saw her. "Is there something you need?" she asked._

_Raven nodded and took a few steps inside the tent. "You're Julie Farkas, correct?"_

" _That's me," replied Julie. "How can I help you, uh...what is your name?"_

" _Raven Wagner. The King said you could tell me more about his robotic dog."_

" _Rex?" Julie crossed her arms, hesitation present in her voice. "It breaks my heart every time I see him. He's such a good dog."_

_The courier nodded in agreement with a saddened look. "Yes, he's a sweetheart." Raven lowered her head and paced around a little before glancing back in Julie's direction. "So the King brought him here for treatment then?"_

" _Yes, a few months ago. We had to tell him there was nothing we could do."_

_Raven inhaled a shaky breath but she was not going to give up. "So you can't heal him?"_

_Julie must have sensed the other woman's cheerless tone. "No," she spoke ruefully. "Rex's condition is way beyond anything we can handle. He requires brain surgery, and some sophisticated cybernetics work, too."_

_Fuck. "That's...a lot of work. So there's no chance he'll ever get better?" Raven asked as she turned her face away._

" _...I didn't say that. While no one here has that kind of expertise, I do know of one man who might fit the bill."_

_Raven stopped dead in her tracks. What? "Who?"_

_Julie replied with a cool tone. "There's an old scientist named Dr. Henry who reportedly specializes in this sort of procedures. He'd probably be your best bet. Last I heard, he was living up in Jacobstown, far to the northwest."_

_Raven turned to Julie questioningly. "How long have you known about this?"_

" _I tried to explain to the King but he ju-"_

_Raven cut her off with a quick wave of her hand. "Stop."_

* * *

It took all her willpower to know kill this...this... "Ok, so let me get this straight, Julie. The King came in with Rex and all you told him was that there was nothing that _you guys here_ could do? And you never mentioned the scientist in Jacobstown?"

Julie quivered a little. "When I tried to explain, he started throwing things and walked off before I could tell him. He even knocked out one of my doctors!"

The courier pointed a a finger accusingly, "THAT IS NO EXCUSE!" she yelled. "I don't care if he beat the shit out of all of you! It's been _months_ , Julie! You could have sent someone over to give him this information! Or are you too busy saving all the god damn junkies and lowlifes in this shit hole that you forgot about the only man who tries to keep people safe in this fuckin' town?" Raven was spitting nails and she didn't give Julie a chance to speak up. "I can understand if you have a grudge against the man for hurting one of your people, but if not for the King's sake...shit! You could have tried for Rex's sake!"

Julie opened her mouth but nothing came out. Raven didn't even bother hearing anymore excuses. She stormed out of the tent. Raven honestly did not know who was the bigger idiot. Julie, or that asshole Wayne from the other tent with his 'Lou Tenant' bullshit. She could understand Wayne's stupidity. He was probably born and raised that way. But Julie...she was a damn _doctor_ , and there was no room for any screw ups in her line of work.

Raven heard fast footsteps behind her. "Raven! Please wait a second!"

She stopped just before the tent Boone was in. Slowly, Raven turned to face the woman. "What is it, Farkas?"

Julie took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Look, I...you were right. I should have sent someone over to the King to tell him this. It's just...Jacobstown is a long ways away. It's up in the mountains, and there's rumors that super mutants live up there."

Raven didn't speak for a few moments. She was trying to so hard not to deck this woman, but Julie had a point. "Super Mutants don't concern me. A trek in the mountains doesn't concern me. I don't care if I have to walk across the whole damn country. I made a promise to the King and nothing, and I mean _nothing_ , is going to stop me from breaking my word."

Julie made a soft smile of hope. "Listen, I don't have much but if you really are going, I will spare you all the supplies I can. No charge."

Raven sighed. Now she felt bad for yelling at the woman. "No, you need those for the people here. I would only be taking away things that they need more than I do. I appreciate the offer, Julie, but I can't willingly accept it." the courier stopped for a moment to look at her Pip-Boy. "If you could tell me where exactly Jacobstown is, that would be more than helpful."

After Julie pointed out the destination on the Pip-Boy map, Raven knew it would take her at least a day or two of walking to get to the town but this only seemed to thicken the dark-haired female's resolve. Soon after Julie left, Raven walked into Boone's tent. The sniper was laying on his cot with a grim look.

"So," he said, "when are we leaving?"

"We're not leaving. I am," Raven corrected Boone. "You still need to rest up and there's no way you can manage the walk. Not in the condition you're in."

Boone grumbled. "Wagner, you're going to get yourself killed."

Raven sat down in a chair next to his bed. "Yeah, well...with my luck, I'll just come right back out of the grave."

Her bed ridden friend laughed softly. "Probably, you stubborn bitch."

Raven guffawed at him. "Was that supposed to be an insult?" she teased. "Or did those bastards on the roof shoot _you_ in the head when I wasn't lookin'?"

"Haha," narked Boone. "Very funny. I bet you a hundred caps you get stabbed to death by a Cazador stinger."

Raven shook her head in amusement. "Well, if I die how will you get the hundred caps, genius? And if I win, you'll still be out a hundred caps."

"I'll go out there and take the caps from your corpse if I have to. And I'll leave you out there to rot if you get yourself killed."

Snickering came out of the girl's mouth. "Well, glad to see your sense of humor is intact."

"I wasn't kidding." Boone sat up with a hard look on his face. "We're both hell bent on dying, but I want to make sure you remember why you need to stay alive."

Raven leaned in closer to Boone. "We have a mission, Boone. I won't die until after the mission is complete."

Like two peas in a pod, both her and Boone were. It was a very peculiar bond that they shared. In the last few weeks of traveling together, Raven felt they had become close. Strictly platonic in nature, but still close. In all seriousness, Raven felt Boone was like an older brother. While she was unsure if he shared her sentiments, the courier was glad to have the man around all the same. Going up to Jacobstown without him was going to be difficult, but she knew Rex needed this done. Raven knew the King needed this done. Sooner rather than later.

Still, she would need a little time to gain extra caps for some stronger weaponry, better armor, a mass quantity of medical supplies and ammo, and some food and water. She'd probably have to tell the King about her plans first, though. She wasn't sure he trusted her quite enough to let her take his most prized companion out into the Mojave Wasteland. But she made a promise to the man. It was more than that, though. Thinking about Rex made Raven think how much she wanted to turn back the clock. Raven thought about her own dog from long ago. Jackson was always a trouble maker, just like her. If she knew then what she knew now, maybe things would have turned out differently.

It was going to be a long trip to Jacobstown.

* * *

The King was troubled. He squeezed the bridge of his nose in frustration. Rex was sleeping comfortably on the foot of the bed, but only because Rex was exhausted after having suffered another massive brain spasm. Watching his furry friend howl and cry tore into the King's insides. The King had carried his dog to the third floor afterward so that the sick canine could rest. The King's groupies had not been happy about it and left to go do some browsing around town.

He thought back to the salvager who he'd purchased Rex from and it brought a melancholy smile to his lips. Rex was dinged up extensively and the salvager had recently lost all her items in a Fiend raid. Her only option was to sell her cybernetic dog, much to her dismay. The King gave her double the caps to what she had originally asked. It had been a very good day for the King. For two reasons. The memory of silky blonde hair and soft pink lips invaded his mind when he heard a yawn from Rex. He turned and stroked the dog's neck.

"There you go, boy. How are you feeling, Rexie?" asked the King.

The animal did look better after his nap. As if to prove it, Rex barked at his master and sat up quickly. He began panting while the King continued giving the furry parts of him a good rub down. Rex leaned forward and began licking the man's face. A soft grin of amusement played on the King's features. Just then, Rex perked his ears and jumped down. He began trotting toward the bedroom door and the King looked to see the courier walking in. The King saw a cheerfulness to the woman as she bent down to look Rex in the face.

"Look at you, you handsome little devil! You look so much better today!" Raven scratched his head gently and he jumped on her in n attempt to cover her face in sloppy dog kisses.. "Oh you're such a cute boy. You got puppy's breath," she added.

The King didn't know why Raven seemed to like that particular smell. He wasn't exactly fond of it himself. The King stood up from the bed and advanced slowly toward the two. Raven made little growls into Rex's neck and he returned the noises happily. The King watched Rex's tail rush back and forth and it brought a bit of peace to the man. He hadn't seen Rex that happy since...

"Have you found anything out? Or were you just here to chat?" he spoke with a bit more sourness than he had intended.

The courier looked taken back by his tone and immediately helped Rex down. "Two things, " she replied. "Which one did you want to hear about first?"

Rex stared up at them both with wide brown eyes, but the King chose to ignore it. "What did you find out about my friends?" the King assumed what the other thing was about, but he wanted to prepare himself for disappointment.

Her eyes blinked a few times before the shocked expression washed off her face. "The local men were attacked by soldiers. One of the men was identified by rank." she replied.

The King scoffed. "A bunch of soldier boys huh?" he paused and turned his back to the courier. "They usually don't come around these parts since their big base is on the other side of the Strip. If they're comin' over here now, it's got to be for a reason. I didn't want to believe the rumors that they're looking to take over Vegas, but now..." he cut himself off. His hands tightened as he turned back to face Raven. "If something big is going down, I'm sure rumors of it will have spread. Ask around, particularly in the squatter areas where the NCR folk hang. You might also mosey on over to the Old Mormon Fort and chat Julie Farkas up. The Followers tend to be in the know about these things. Just don't ask her what to do about it. She'll probably ask you to hug someone or somethin'." he finished.

Raven nodded and patted Rex on the back of his neck. "Sure thing."

The King and Raven were both silent for a few moments and to him, the air felt tense. He huffed out a large amount of it. "What was the other thing you found out?" he asked.

He watched as she bit her lower lip. "About Rex here..." she stopped, as if waiting for him to approve.

"I'm listening," the King confirmed.

The King spied the slow smile that formed on her lips. "Julie Farkas said a man in Jacobstown can treat Rex," she continued.

"She said what?" he blurted out. "Why didn't she say so when I was there?"

"Julie told me she didn't get a chance to because you uh...weren't too happy about it and stormed off." Raven offered.

"...Actually, come to think of it, " he proposed. "I was pretty angry when I went down there. I vaguely recall something about upending a few tables, maybe knocking out one of her doctors." he knelt down to Rex and started scratching behind his ears. "Anyway, that's incredible news! Oh, but..." a thought just occurred to the King. "Thing is, there's too much going on around here for me to make a trip like that, and I need all my guys just to keep things settled here." he pointed out.

Raven nodded as if she understood completely. "I'd be more than happy to take him there myself for the treatment, Mr. King. He'll be safer than a babe in a cradle," she offered. "Cross my heart, hope to die," she added, gesturing what he only surmised as a cross over her heart.

The King admired the woman's random childlike demeanor, as well as her seemingly infectious nobility. The man was not questioning her ability to work miracles. He just wasn't sure if he could trust her abilities enough to make such a dangerous trek into the mountains. The King had only seen a few moments of her battle spirit and while it was impressive, he needed more than that to remove his doubts. As if she sensed the King's uncertainty, Raven bent forward from the waist to meet his eyes.

"Take a day to think it over, Mr. King," she said. "In the meantime, I'll go check out the squatter areas; see if I sniff out the truth from the lies with the rumors. I'll report back when I find something."

Raven was one hell of a woman. "Miss Wagner, I look forward to our next meeting," he remarked. "Alright, I'll see you later," he cooed.

And with that, she stood and left.


	9. Bringing It Back

For a second, Raven thought she heard Julie wrong. Maybe the courier managed to get a chunk of ghoul flesh in her ear at one point. Maybe she was having side effects from one too many grenades exploding near her. Or maybe the woman's mind was playing tricks on her, though considering her luck, Raven highly doubted any of the above was the case. When it came to chance, Raven Wagner had the worst luck at the worst times. Or perhaps the best luck at the worst times, depending on how she could look at it. So after the green-eyed female made her way over to a possible squatter area and passed the "quiz", Raven strolled on over to the northwest side of town. She had time to kill, so as she walked, Raven started kicking a rock along. She was procrastinating, and haphazardly nudging a piece of stone around would help slow her down. Many thoughts rushed through the courier's head, the King's dog being one them and Elizabeth Kieran taking a backseat.

While she was certainly the type to run head first into things, Raven began really thinking about the trip to Jacobstown. _"God dammit. I'm all for helping, but doing this because of a dying dog?"_ she thought to herself, quite aware that Rex was not the reason she offered to bring the animal to Jacobstown. She quickly clarified it in her head. _"Yeah, the King saved your ass so this will make you and him even."_

Raven rarely ever helped people because of an obligation. She helped people because she wanted to. Why was this any different? That's when it hit her. It _wasn't_ different, at least not in that way. Raven truly wanted to help Rex and his master, but that was not the reason why alarms were going off in head. The courier offered passage through very dangerous Cazador territory to the mountains possibly full of Super Mutants and who knows what else with a very sick dog and just herself. She wasn't afraid for her own life; she was afraid for Rex's life and her capabilities to keep him from harm.

_"No, don't even fuckin' think that. Don't you dare second guess yourself."_

Distracted by her thoughts, Raven didn't realize until looking up from the ground that she was near the old train station. Her eyes scanned the area before they settled on a couple of men standing outside one of the buildings. As she moseyed on over, she lost interest in her game of rock kicking. They spotted her right away and one of them held up a hand when she got close enough.

"Hold up," a man in mercenary attire said. "What's the password?"

"Hope," replied Raven.

The man nodded. "Head on through."

 _"Well, at least security isn't that tight,"_ she thought. It didn't take a genius to pass the NCR quiz, especially when having a former NCR soldier as a side kick.

As she opened the door, she heard a female voice. "Here you go. I hope this helps."

Raven stared in the direction of the woman who belonged to that voice and sighed as she approached the counter. Her hair was blonde and swept neatly, her eyes a dark brown, her lips pursed lightly; and the Major's overall stance was all too familiar. Yep, the worst luck at the best time. It didn't take long for Elizabeth to notice her.

"Welcome. There's food and water here for any citizen of the NCR. Please, have some." said Elizabeth. Raven crossed her arms and smirked lightly at the other woman, almost chuckling when Major Kieran's jaw dropped. "My god. Raven, is that you?"

It was official. Raven had not heard the Follower doctor wrong. "Wow. Took ya long enough," the courier answered. "How's it going, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth laughed and walked around the counter before wrapping her arms around the courier. Raven mirrored the affection with a full heart and strong arms even thought she hadn't expected it. Maybe she had good luck after all. After all, how often did she get to run into family?

* * *

"It's great to be up here, looking down at all your smiling faces. That won't last long."

The King took a long swig of the clear liquid from his glass, savoring the slow burn that traveled down his throat to his insides. He set the glass down on the circular table and relaxed his body on the chair. He stared up at the insult comic on the stage, a ghoul in a suit that did nothing to take away the necrotic features. A few patrons in the Atomic Wrangler, drunk and disorderly, laughed at the mediocre comedian. It was nice to see someone trying to bring laughter into the lives of others, even though the ghoul had no logical reason for humor. The Mojave Wasteland was a rough place to survive. Still, the effort was much appreciated. The King filled his glass with another shot of scotch and raised it as a silent toast to the ghoul comic Hadrian before downing it completely.

Hadrian seemed to notice the gesture and appeared to smile. "Ah, it seems the King of Freeside decided to grace us with his presence. It's not hard to spot a King when his hair is so bright and shiny. I bet all that hair gel you have is so radioactive it could power a rocket ship!"

More drunken laughter ensued, and even the King had to chuckle. Hadrian was a brave comic and this was reason enough for the King to take the bait. "Hey, watch the hair!" and to prove his ruse, the King patted his hair gently. "You're gonna hurt the gel's feelings, you know. Make my hair stick out when it shouldn't. You know how long it took me to get it this perfect?"

Cackles and guffaws filled the bar as the ghoul continued the 'assault'. "Yeah yeah, we know. Mr. Pretty Boy loves his hair gel. If the look isn't recognized right away, the smell of that stuff sure will strike up recognition. That stuff smells so bad it probably soured that singing voice of yours."

"Ha!" responded the King. Hadrian knew how to stick it to him. "Consider it aromatherapy!"

Barks of laughter followed the comment, and the ghoul smirked defiantly. "Really, now? You still have your guitar?"

The King knew exactly where this was going. It sure had been awhile since he performed any songs. While he wasn't in any particular mood to sing, the King wasn't finding many excuses to object to the challenge. He filled his glass once more and shot it down swiftly. Perhaps the alcohol had something to do with it. "Hey Kevin!" he yelled to one of his underlings, a dark-toned man with a suit to match. The man shot his boss a glance. "Would you be so kind as to fetch my guitar for me please?"

"Which one?"

More laughing. "Let's go with Bessie on this one." the King replied.

* * *

A couple minutes after the initial 'reunion' Elizabeth brought Raven to the back room, leaving one of her guys to handle the food supplies. As Raven walked into the room, Elizabeth shut the door and smiled. The dark haired woman couldn't help but return the gesture. "So, Major Kiernan now, is it?" Raven snickered.

Elizabeth pouted playfully. "Yes. I'm a major in the supply corps, which is where this food and water comes from."

"So why don't you serve the locals?" asked Raven.

The major replied with, "That's not really a pleasant topic of conversation. Let's just say we have our reasons."

"Julie Farkas told me to ask. She said it was important."

"You know Julie? Not everyone in the NCR sees eye-to-eye with the Followers, but they're ok in my book, mostly because of her." Elizabeth explained as she offered the girl a seat. Raven sat down in a somewhat wobbly chair as the major took her own seat behind her own desk. "If you really want to know, we sent an envoy to the King offering to coordinate the relief effort."

The courier tilted her head to the side with intrigue and a touch of suspicion. "And the King refused?" she asked.

"...In a manner of speaking," Elizabeth said. "Our envoy was brutally beaten, and only barely survived. My superiors ordered the relief mission scrapped. I managed to to get clearance to carry out the mission anyway, but with greatly reduced support. Now there's not enough supplies to go around even if I wanted to serve the rest of Freeside," she hesitated for a moment. "Which I don't."

"I see," Raven replied skeptically. "So, how have you been Lizzy?"

The courier watched the major relax with a casual gesture of the head. "Could be worse, but the family and I get by. What are you doing in Freeside?"

"I have...'delicate matters' that require my attention," the girl replied calmly.

"That doesn't surprise me. You always were a trouble maker, and quite the explorer." teased Elizabeth.

"Both being Wagner traits. You should know that. You married my brother, after all."

Elizabeth's face softened to a look that Raven didn't expect. "Yeah," she said. "Jason was always stubborn. He never quit anything in his life."

The courier suddenly had a lump in her throat, not liking the sudden tension in the air. "Lizzy? Is Jason ok?"

Elizabeth lowered her head. "He's alive, but...he lives at the REPCONN facility now. Started up a group called the Bright Brotherhood or something."

Raven's heart fell into the pit of her stomach.

* * *

It hadn't taken long for the man to grab the guitar and run back. By the time Kevin returned, the King was all set to go on stage. Even in the short amount of time, however, the place had already filled up tremendously. People were more than delighted to hear that the King was going to perform a song at the Atomic Wrangler, and news traveled fast in Freeside. While the Garretts had initially scorned the idea, their minds changed when they saw the business increase. They were going to have a lot of caps tonight. The King smiled warmly as Kevin approached him with a black guitar case.

"I trust you were gentle with her?" the King asked.

"Of course."

As the King stood with the case handle now in hand, people began cheering and whistling. The man made his way up on stage and shook hands with Hadrian before walking to a single stool and microphone. As he flipped the clips of his case, the King heard a familiar bark and smirked to himself before looking toward the door. Pacer had just walked in with Rex, who seemed to know exactly what was going on. Nothing got past that hound. The King pulled out a simple black acoustic guitar from the case as well as a black and white pick before pulling the instrument's strap over his head. As he sat down, the cheering roared to new heights and Pacer took a seat at the King's table with Rex at his heels. The dog barked and howled with excitement to match the attitude of the crowd. The King positioned himself with his right hand over the sound hole and strings, his left hand placed intricately on the neck. The man's eyes fell on the crowd with an anxious but content feel. The crowd slowly quieted down in anticipation.

"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Do you have any song requests?" he said into the microphone.

* * *

The courier walked through the streets slowly, her head lowered to hide the somewhat defeated gaze she carried. Raven wrapped her arms around herself as if to protect herself from the memories that came with a chilly breeze in the night. The sun had only set an hour ago and she already felt cold. Goosebumps appeared on her skin as the night wind hit her. A gentle but painful reminder that she was still among the living. How the hell did it happen? And what's worse, why the hell didn't Jason 'Bright' tell the courier who he was? It tore her heart in two, knowing that she could have possibly sent her only sibling to his death because of some stupid visions. Even still, Raven helped them out anyway because _he_ believed it to be true and like any good but crazy person like her would do, she agreed. Raven didn't even know if her brother recognized her.

Then again, Raven sure as hell couldn't have recognized him. If Jason had even given a cue as to being her estranged brother, she wasn't sure she would have believed it. Denial and anger swarmed through her brain but as Raven stalked onward like a woman on a mission, it hit her like a ton of bricks. It made her stop dead in her tracks. Raven recalled the nickname that Jason had given her when they were kids. 'Little Wanderer' is what he used to call her. And the ghoul known as Jason Bright kept calling her 'wanderer'. Had that been some sort of cue that she failed to notice? Raven leaned against a building to brace herself for the echoing thoughts that followed. She was never going to see her brother again...because Raven helped him on what was probably a mass suicide. Her body slumped to the ground as she tried to breathe.

 _"My brother is probably dead because of me..."_ she thought to herself.

The girl didn't want to think about it. She wanted it to go away, if only for the night. And climbing into a bottle of scotch or whiskey was the only way her needs could be satisfied. Luckily for her, the Atomic Wrangler wasn't that far. As she made her way to the place that would surely drown her sorrows for the time being, Raven could have sworn she heard cheering Her ears strained to listen and as she got closer to her destination, the sound became louder. Raven turned the corner and once she reached the door of the Wrangler, she concluded that the loud applause was coming from inside. Slowly she pressed her hand on the door and peered inside.

What Raven saw was unexpected. "You've got to be kidding me," she mumbled to herself.


	10. Are You Sincere?

There was the King, up on the stage with a guitar, singing to the crowd who seemed to adore each twang of his instrument and every word that fell gracefully from his mouth. Raven sneaked in and shut the door before making her way to the bar. Carefully. However, she was surprised to learn that the King could not only sing, but he could sing very well. The girl was impressed. As she grabbed a stool to sit on, his voice echoed through her. She ordered a bottle of whiskey.

_You look like an angel, walk like an angel,_

_Talk like an angel, but I got wise..._

_You're the Devil in disguise! Oh yes you are!_

_Devil in disguise!_

Raven grasped the whiskey as she handed Francine Garrett some caps, before opening the cap and putting the opening to her mouth. She turned in her stool as the King started playing his guitar like a skilled madman. People were now dancing as he did, and Raven smiled a little. Swallowing a bit of her drink caused a burning hiss to follow. Raven shuddered a little. The first shot was always the worst, but it provided enough of a barrier to drown herself in one or two bottles. Each sip caressed itself down her throat like an aggressive lover who had been absent for years without release or satisfaction. It burned, but it was such a good burn. The courier hadn't realized how much she missed it. Her green eyes captured every face in the room one at a time, an old habit that only formed from years of exploration and travel. It was then that she spotted Pacer and Rex at a nearby table.

As the King switched to a new song, Raven turned her back to the room. While she was happy that Rex was more lively than she had first seen him, she scowled. The courier wanted to give the dog a good scratch behind the ears, but not while Pacer sat there to scrutinize her every move.. She considered the King's behavior earlier that afternoon as well. He had been a bit...cold to her. Granted, she had only met the man a few days ago so she truly didn't know the man. Still, her meeting with the King today felt sour to her. Perhaps it was wrong of her to assume that he would trust her enough to bring his loyal companion to a doctor. Why she even expected such, the courier didn't know. But today...today was just a bad day she wanted to erase from her memories. The outside world began to fade out as Raven took a few more swigs of her whiskey, not even noticing the man who was approaching her. However, the bitter smell of cheap cologne was all to familiar.

"Well well, if it isn't Miss Badass of the Week..." a low voice uttered in her ear before he sat down.

Raven didn't even have to look at the man. "Pacer..." she said in what was meant as a tensed but civil acknowledgment. She downed another mouthful of the amber liquid.

The buzzed woman could feel Pacer's eyes burning into the side of her head when he spoke again. "I was wondering if you and I could have a little chat."

Raven felt a wet nose poke her arm and she smirked a little, stroking Rex's neck. She turned her head to Pacer with venom and cockiness in her green eyes. "You want to chat with me, Pacer? That's not really your style," Raven focused her eyes back on her bottle. Only half empty. Shit.

"I'm serious."

Raven glanced at the King's right-hand man from the corner of his eye, spotting the grim expression on his face. Groaning inwardly, she turned her body to face him completely to give him her full attention. "I'm listening," she said.

Pacer looked as if he was deeply troubled...until he opened his mouth. "I'm...sorry about grabbing your ass."

Raven had to bite her tongue. Literally, in fact, to prevent herself from laughing. The girl could see this was obviously difficult for Pacer. Painful, even. "I...see..." she responded. "Well, I accept your apology. And I, for one, am very sorry for, uh..." she thought for a moment. "How can I say 'I'm sorry for breaking your face' delicately?"

"For overreacting?" he seemed to guess at her dilemma.

"That's one way of looking at it," she replied.

Pacer snorted. "That's my way of looking at it."

Raven shrugged. "True, but you get brownie points for apologizing, even though you don't really feel sorry about it."

Pacer smirked at her. "Oh really? And what makes you think I'm not sincere?" Raven could tell he was quite curious about her observation.

She placed her half empty bottle down, an inner representation of her underlying mood. "Because of your loyalty to the King," she explained. Her eyes drifted to Pacer, noting the change in his face. "You're a proud man...proud enough to never admit when you're wrong, but not too proud to refuse a good friend when asked to do something you hate doing. The brownie points are because of your reasons for apologizing, not for the apology itself."

The look on Pacer's face was a true camera moment. Seriously, where was a camera when she needed one? "You talk as if you have personal experience," he offered as one of his own observations.

Raven nodded. "That's a fair assumption," she said. With this particular topic, she wasn't going to be anything but obscure.

Pacer paused, as if waiting for the woman to elaborate. When she didn't, he seemed to get the picture. "So I heard you offered to take Rex here to some doctor in Jacobstown. Any reason why?"

Raven caressed under Rex's chin with her fingernails as she pondered for words. "I have a soft spot for dogs," she settled on saying. She turned her head toward the King who was now taking a smoke break from his singing. "I had no idea the King could sing. Maybe I'll ask him to perform a duet with me one day." It sputtered out of Raven's mouth before she could stop herself.

"He doesn't do performances much anymore, and duets are a big no-no for him. There's only one person that he's ever done duets with."

Raven looked back at Pacer. There was a tenderness in Pacer's eyes that she hadn't seen before; a longing that implied a painful memory. She didn't dare ask about it, so she turned back to her whiskey. "That's...well, I wouldn't want to impose on that, then. Forget I mentioned it."

"Can you even sing?" asked Pacer.

Raven now realized the mess she had just gotten herself into. "So I've been told..." she offered.

Before she knew it, Pacer ran off to the stage. Oh great. Raven quickly took one last sip of her whiskey before giving Rex one last scratch and attempted to run toward the door. However, the alcohol had more sway with her than she thought. Panic seized her body as her name was called by the King. She froze as eyes turned toward her.

"Miss Wagner, would you please come to the stage?" the King repeated.

 _"I,"_ she thought, _"_ _am going to kill Pacer."_ Yep, the man was right back on her shit list.

Cheeks burning from more than just her drink of choice, Raven slowly walked toward the King and Pacer with Rex padding excitedly at her heels. She smiled to herself at the canine's encouragement. Raven glared daggers at Pacer, the man carrying a smug expression as if he just won a trip to the Strip's casinos. This was his way at getting back at her, no doubt. Raven climbed the stairs slowly and her feet felt heavy. It was true, though. Raven Wagner was one hell of a singer and she damn well knew it; however, she had a horrible case of stage fright. Having all those eyes on her at once without the intention of killing her made her uneasy. Leave it to Raven to get unnerved by something like that instead of people watching her because they planned on shooting the woman. As she ascended the last step, the King approached her.

"Pacer here tells me you've been told you can sing," he stated. "Do you also know how to play a guitar?"

"...A bit, yeah," Raven replied sheepishly.

The King leaned in closer and whispered, "You think you could entertain the crowd while I rest my voice and get a drink?"

Now Raven knew her cheeks were red with embarrassment instead of alcohol consumption. Slowly she nodded and the King smiled at her. The King of Kings took the guitar strap from his shoulders and gently placed Bessie into the girl's arms. Raven chewed on her lower lip with uncertainty before placing the strap over her shoulder. The King handed her the pick before walking back to the microphone to announce his need for a drink, and that Miss Wagner would play in his stead once he was finished. As the King jumped from the stage, the very shy woman stared down at herself, wishing she had something better to wear than her leather armor. If she was going to do this, she wanted to at least look presentable. It was then she had the idea to let her hair down. Making her way to the stool and swallowing the lump in her throat, Raven pulled out the band that held the makeshift bun. The ebony hair fell and cascaded down her back and along her shoulders as she sat down.

As her slender fingers traced along the neck of the black guitar, Raven felt herself relax a little. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. There were many songs she knew, but the one she had in mind was a personal favorite of hers. It reminded her of the the good times her brother and she shared. Even though it was a love song meant for two lovebirds, that never mattered to Jason and her. They loved each other like two siblings would and as children, they often gazed at the stars at night on the roof of their broken down shack. They would give each light in the sky a name. It was a never ending game for brother and sister to keep their minds off the cruel world they had been born in. How ironic that they had dreamed of chasing the stars in their own dreams, and Raven had helped Jason reach them in a rocket ship. Maybe one day she'd join him. Maybe Jackson was waiting for the both of them. Before the tears could creep into her eyes, the pick in Raven's hand began plucking away. A set of fingers tapped carefully along the fretboard in unison, and she inhaled deeply in preparation for the first few verses.

_Stars shining bright above you,_

_Night breezes seem to whisper, "I love you"._

Raven's voice trembled at first, but before she knew it the familiar calm settled upon her throat and very soon she began singing without a care in the world. In doing so, she hadn't noticed how quiet the crowd had gotten. She remembered to breath.

_Birds singing in the sycamore tree,_

_Dream a little dream of me..._

Her eyes opened slowly as her fingers swept and played, her gentle hands caressing the instrument as if it were a baby. Raven's voice began rising in volume from her confidence returning, the vibrations in her throat echoing throughout the bar.

_Say 'nightie night' and kiss me,_

_Just hold me tight and tell me you miss me,_

_While I'm alone, and blue as can be,_

_Dream a little dream of me..._

As she neared the first chorus, her green eyes gazed upon the crowd. Raven flashed her white teeth in a grand smile. Her voice intensified and the guitar strings called out with just as much enthusiasm.

_Stars fading, but I linger on, dear_

_Still craving your kiss_

_I'm longing to linger 'til dawn, dear_

_Just saying this..._

And Raven shut her eyes again, bobbing her head to the beat and lowering her voice ever so slightly. She lost herself in the emotions of the music and all her negativity; all the bad feelings Raven Wagner harbored from that day dissolved into nothingness as she continued the ballad.

_Sweet dreams 'til sunbeams find you_

_Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you_

_But in your dreams, whatever they be_

_Dream a little dream of me_

And as she began the guitar solo, Raven's eyes full of memories and release once again descended among the crowd. While the singer wasn't looking at anyone specifically, she did catch a glimpse at Pacer. His jaw was practically glued to the floor. Raven repeated the chorus as green eyes scanned the crowd, this time accentuating and putting more emphasis into the vibrato of her vocal chords. Her chest resonated with the words and or the life of her, Raven couldn't remove the bright smile from her face. It had been so long sing she sang and it was more than just a hobby that she missed. Singing had once been a huge part of Raven's life. Hell, it was more of a comfort than any sort of drug or alcohol in the world. As the song neared the last verse, Raven now felt like a revived woman and her eyes closed once more. And on she sang...

_Dream a little dream of,_

_Dream a little dream...of...me..._

The fingertips of Raven's musically gifted hands brought the song into the final chords, and as a beautiful touch, she slowed down the very last bit into a soft, but powerful tone. Soon, the remnants of the music died down. Raven felt her heart jump into her throat as she heard an enormous amount of applause and whistling. Her eyelids lifted cautiously and she saw the crowd was on their feet, clapping in appreciation. Raven slowly stood and gave a little bow.

And at the very edge of the bar, the King sat in stunned silence. This woman was just full of surprises.


	11. Just Because

"That song," a spectator mentioned to Raven, "was a damn good song!" The King watched with bemused eyes as he watched the performer get encircled by a crowd.

"You should be singing professionally!" another person exclaimed.

The King kept his eyes on her when Raven met his gaze. Mild curiosity played at her features before once again getting swept away by all the new fans she had acquired. The King turned back to his drink and took a small sip. He lowered his glass when Rex lifted his paws on the counter and started licking the King's cheek.

"Hey there Rexie..." he said. He turned and looked at the dog. "How's my best pal doing?"

As if Rex understood, he barked and panted happily. After a few minutes, Raven sat down on a stool by the King. Rex was now between the two people, and she traced the tips of her nails along Rex's neck. He leaned appreciatively and she smiled softly.

"So, Mr. King..." she paused, as if she was unsure. "...how are you?"

The King wasn't sure what Raven was asking him. He stared at her for a few moments, weighing her question in his head. The look in her intense green eyes was enough to unnerve him but he ignored it for the moment. How was he, really? For the first time in a long time, the King was out of touch with himself. It baffled him a little, quite frankly. Then again, so much had happened before she even showed up. The King was tired and emotionally drained from the arrogance of the NCR, from Pacer's irritability, from Rex's worsening condition...any indication of his inner turmoil was carefully hidden with a cool, collected smirk.

"I am well, Miss Wagner. How are you?"

"I suppose I could be better, but I'll live." she replied. The King swore he caught a touch of bitterness in her voice.

"Anything I can help you with?" he asked politely.

The question seemed to catch her off guard because Raven suddenly averted her eyes to the counter. "I...don't know, to be perfectly honest."

Before he could say anything else, the crowd began asking for an encore from both Raven and the King. They both turned to the people and the King smiled softly. They were asking for a duet, probably. He knew Pacer would not be happy with it, but...well, both him and Pacer needed to move on from the past. His thoughts drifted to his old duet partner, one with golden locks and creamy white skin. Still, the man wasn't sure if he was ready to move forward, at least in the respect of sharing the stage with someone else. He raised a hand to silence the crowd.

"Another time, perhaps," he spoke. "But unless Miss Wagner here wants to continue with the entertainment, I'd be more than happy to continue singing for you fellas tonight."

He turned to look at Raven, and she smiled at him before playfully socking him on in the shoulder. "Bah, this is your night to sing. Go on. I think I'm done for tonight anyway."

He nodded and stood, but he leaned toward her and whispered. "Perhaps you could stay and then we can talk afterward?"

Again, Raven looked as if she didn't know what to say. "I, well...sure. Ok." she stammered.

The King's lips shifted into his well known smirk. "Alright, I'll see you later."

When he took himself away from her and strutted toward the stage, he began thinking many things.

* * *

The bar was quiet now with chairs resting upside down on the tables. The lights were dimmed and most of the bar stools were empty. Everyone was either asleep or they went home hours ago, save for a few patrons. The echoes of chatter had significantly decreased in comparison to the King's long awaited return to the stage and Raven's debut in Freeside, and laughter coated with whiskey and scotch escaped both of the singer's lips occasionally.

"So then what did you do?" Raven asked.

"I told him he was crazy if he thought he could outperform me," the King replied. "I suggested a contest between the two of us, and the next night we performed right here at the Wrangler." The King took a drink of his scotch. "I wiped the floor with him, needless to say."

"And that's how you became the King instead of Pacer. Interesting," she said. "I have to say," she paused to drink her whiskey, "that I'm glad you won the title. No offense to Pacer, but I don't think he could run Freeside as well as you have."

"Ah, don't be so hard on him. He wasn't always this mistrusting of strangers," said the King.

Raven rested her cheek in her hand with an elbow set on the bar counter. "So what changed, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Someone tried to have me killed." he said.

Raven took another shot of her drink. "Who?" the girl asked with shock.

"Just some NCR grunt," the King said calmly, not wanting to get into the details.

"Oooooh," Raven replied with a heavy tone of realization. "That's why you both hate the NCR so much?"

The King fiddled with his glass. "Don't get me wrong. I don't really _hate_ the NCR. They probably mean well but some of their soldiers have 'the end justifies the means' mentality." he explained.

"I know exactly what you mean."

"Do you?" he asked, taking a drink of his scotch. "Care to enlighten me, Miss Wagner?"

Raven turned around in her seat and leaned her back against the counter, resting her elbows in the wooden edge of it. "Well..." she started. "I don't want to bore you with the details but I became a means to an end not that long ago. Almost killed me, too. He wasn't NCR but he should have asked for my cooperation. I would have gladly helped even though he tried to kill me."

"So what happened to him?"

He eyed Raven's motions, watching her eyelids droop and her head lower. "...He got away. I've been on his tail ever since, which is what brought me to Freeside in the first place. His end is going to be more than just an 18-karat run of bad luck compared to what he did to me," she spoke with bitterness and hatred in her voice, and her eyes drifted over to the King. "He's going to wish that he'd never gambled in the first place." There was a heaviness in the air; subtle, but it was enough to make Raven appear uncomfortable. "Anyway, I have plenty of time before I catch up to him. So, your school is...interesting. What can you tell me about it?"

The two engaged in conversation for quite a while, mostly with the King answering all her questions about the school, the Kings, Freeside, the Strip, the man behind the name of the school, and many other things. It had been awhile since someone asked so much about things that were considered mundane and trivial these days, but it was nice. It took the King's mind away from the bothersome details of his current problems, even when Raven asked about some of his personal history. He didn't like talking about himself too much, but when she posed the questions about the man behind The Kings, he didn't object. To say the least, the King found Raven Wagner to be quite pleasant with conversation. It was a rare characteristic in the Mojave Wasteland. Hell, he'd been to a lot of places. Her insistence to know and help people, the polite attitude she addressed him as 'Mr. King', and just the way she seemed to survive whatever life threw at her; all of those things were hard to find in a person no matter where he went.

"I think our knowledge of each other is unbalanced, Miss Wagner. You know a bit about me yet I know very little about you." the King brought up.

Raven slid her finger along the rim of her bottle slowly before answering. "You have a point. But I asked you questions because I would like to know you better," her finger stopped and the King hid his amusement when she looked flustered. "Not that I want to be close or anything, I mean...I, uh...well, I just make it a point to know people better. I like to know who I'm dealing with, not the other way around."

"I see. It's strictly tactical and strategy-based. Measuring us all if we'll be friends or enemies"

"That's one way of saying it, yeah."

"So...what am I to you?" he asked.

Raven eyed the King, looking as if she was mulling her thoughts over. "I'm still on the fence about you. I mean, you'll probably become a friend, but...well, the last time I placed trust in someone so quickly, before really getting to know someone..." she looked into his eyes for a moment before pointing to the scar on her forehead, "...I was left for dead in a grave. Luckily, some doctor in Goodsprings patched me right up after a Securitron found me."

" _Goodsprings?"_ the King thought to himself. _"Wasn't that town mentioned on the radio not that long ago? Something about a courier getting shot in the head?"_ Then the puzzle pieces clicked together. "Oh, you're _that_ courier Mr. New Vegas was talking about on the radio. So, I take it that guy you're going after is the same one who shot you?"

"Yes, and yes."

The King shook his head, both from amazement and sympathy. "Miss Wagner, you really are something."


	12. I Got Stung

After shopping around for some supplies, visiting Boone, and deciding on an outfit that was better suited for the desert life, Raven was in a good mood despite her throbbing headache. Hangovers were horrible but at least she didn't have a nightmare after going to sleep. Well, not the normal dreams, at least. The dream she had the night before...Raven put in the 'uncategorized' section of her mind. Maybe it was because of last night's events that she hadn't been haunted this morning by the bad guys in her dreams. Between singing her heart out and making conversation with the King, in which the latter lasted almost the whole night, Raven felt lighter. While the weight of the world was still on her shoulders, the gait Raven paced along with was not as heavy as before.

Nothing happened between the two of them last night, at least as far as she was willing to realize. Just a conversation that went into the early hours of the morning. Raven couldn't even remember the last time she stayed up all night just talking to someone. Still, it was...interesting. A chance in talking with and seeing the casual side of the King revealed much to Raven, and she found her original purpose had faded as the two them talked on into the night. After talking with Elizabeth, Raven wanted to know for certain if the King was capable of being that dishonorable. While no deceit was noted and she found herself thinking very highly of the man after such a long chitchat, Raven wondered if she was glorifying the King with too much haste. Or maybe his looks had to do with it. She shook her head at the possibility.

 _"Nope. Stop thinking like that. Get your head out of the clouds and back into the game."_ she thought. _"Ok, he's handsome. I'd be blind or an idiot to not see that, but that's not why I like him. Ok, like? No. No no no. That's not the right word...adore? No, that's even worse. No, my interest in him is strictly professional."_

Raven began fighting herself in her own head. _"Huh. Could've fooled me, and I'm part of you."_

_"Ok, my inner self. That's enough. He's attractive and charming and he can sing, but that's it."_

_"Uh huh. So why are you wearing a new outfit? Especially one that shows off some skin?"_

_"It's...it doesn't make me sweat 24/7! Besides, I like the name that went with it. Mercenary 'adventurer' is a very eye-catching name."_

_"Yep, and the King is going to 'eye' you in this and you're going to 'catch' it because you'll be looking for it."_

Raven stopped walking. _"Fuck. I need to get out of this thing."_

_"Wear it."_

_"What the hell for?"_

_"Because now you're curious to see his reaction."_

_"Bullshit. Why the hell would I be curious?"_

_"Because you want to see if he finds you attractive, and because you're arguing with yourself over it. And_ losing! _"_

Raven grumbled to herself. This was why she could never deny something for too long. Because she'd form arguments with herself in order to see reason, or to find a solution if she was ever conflicted about something. It took the form of herself, and despite the self-teasing, it was better than the previous form that her alter ego took. Her inner voice; her self-loathing used to be a version of her father. It took her years to keep that man out of her head, and the courier knew exactly what he'd be saying now.

_"Yeah, you'll be cornered in a dark alley somewhere if you look like that, and you'll be no better than that whore mother of yours."_

Raven started walking again with an angry pace. She was not going to let that horrible man define her actions ever again. But arguing with her alter ego about...possible feelings for a man she hardly knew? It was ridiculous, yet she found her way to the King's school without changing into something more professional. Curiosity wasn't going to get her killed this time, and if the King was interested in her, she needed to nip that bud before it got bigger. As Raven opened the door to the King's place and walked in, Pacer ran up to her.

"Hey there," he said. "I heard that NCR lady told you some wild story about them sending a messenger to us to work out some deal." Raven resisted the urge to smack him. "That's bullshit," he continued, "and it's nothing to bother the King about. More like they sent someone to spy on us and he wasn't tough enough to last in Freeside."

"Is that so?" she mocked.

"Yeah, so do everyone a favor and keep your mouth shut about it, okay?" he replied viciously.

Raven felt her lips curl. "What's my silence worth to you?" Her arms interlocked and her hip pivoted as she stared him down.

Pacer chuckled. "You're a bastard after my own heart. Here," he reached into his pocket and pulled out some caps, "this should do it."

Raven held her hand up. "Don't bother," she said. "You'd have better luck reasoning with a Death Claw than paying me off. Rumors or not, I still think the King should know about it."

"Don't fool yourself, sweetheart. You think the King digs this 'holier-than-thou' attitude you've got? " Pacer flashed a toothy grin. "When it comes down to it, you're just a tool for him to use. Be it to get his dirty work done or an easy fuck in his bed, he doesn't give a shit about you."

Before Raven could even register her actions, she had Pacer pinned to the wall with an arm pressing against his throat and a knife aimed at his gut. "Now you listen to me, you cocky little shit. I am not a tool, I am not a patsy, and I most certainly am not an easy fuck. You better fuckin' believe it when I say this." Her eyes tore into him with the red hot glare of a crazed and malicious Fiend. "If you ever, EVER talk to me like that again, I'll slice open your insides and feed them to Caesar on a god damn silver platter. Do I made myself clear?"

Pacer glared right back at the enraged courier, though it was plain to see he was about to piss himself. "Crystal," was all he managed to say.

Raven hesitated, contemplating whether or not to just kill him now. After considering her options and the dead silence in the room, she withdrew her arm and knife. She turned angrily toward the audience that had accumulated into the room. The look on her face never faded as she made her way to the theater. When she glanced in and did not find the King or Rex, she bit back a growl of irritation. She leaned away from the door frame and faced the bundle of shocked Kings.

"Where the FUCK is the King?" she barked.

When a few up them pointed toward the ceiling, she strutted through the room with a heavy and strong gait. It was the walk of a raging woman on the verge of exploding. Raven turned corners and raced up stairs until she reached the King's bedroom door, the expression of death not once leaving her face. She found the door did not budge when she attempted to open it, and Raven started slamming her fist on it. The woman listening carefully for any noises coming from the room, and when she heard none she took a step back. Raven Wagner was not in a patient mood and was not going to wait for an invitation.

Without pause her foot kicked the door open and she strolled in to find some women wearing sleazy pajamas in his bed. Rex jumped up from the floor and padded toward her. When she was about to ask the King's whereabouts, another door in the room opened and the King walked out with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Raven felt the color drain from her face when the King noticed her.

"Ah, Miss Wagner. You know, that door was locked for a reason."

Raven crossed her arms. "So I see," her eyes went to the women who were probably frightened out of their minds. "Well, when you're done playing 'Hide the Salami' with your pals here, I'd like to give my report."

"Now's as good a time as any. Fire away, Miss Wagner." he strutted toward her slowly with a small smirk on his face.

If she hadn't been so pissed off, Raven would have felt her knees weaken from the sight of the handsome, wet, and practically naked man before her. Instead, she turned her back to him as he approached her. "The NCR is distributing supplies in a building down by the old train station."

There was a long pause before she heard the King say anything. "Ladies, would you be so kind as to excuse us for a moment?"

Clothes and bed sheets were rustling for a bit before Raven saw the two women, now in more modest clothing, leave the room. One of them shut the door as they left. Raven didn't turn around. She didn't know if she was disgusted or...what else at the King's unusual behavior, but the courier found she could not even look at him.

"Handing out supplies? Like food and stuff? That ain't nothing to get ruffled over," he said.

"Ruffled?" she said bitterly. "I'm a bit more than ruffled."

She heard the King clear his throat. "You find anything else?"

Raven felt her jaw tense. "They're only handing out supplies to NCR citizens."

"Ah, that would explain the goons. They're here to keep people like my friends away from the food. That ain't something I support. No sir."

Raven stared blankly at the wall. "They said someone was sent to discuss the issue with you."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. They said what?"

"They said the man was severely beaten," she said, turning to face the King, "and barely survived."

"Huh," he started pacing a little, "that would explain why they're all riled at us. Seems like we have a big misunderst-" a King member opened the door suddenly, breathing heavily. The King stared at the man. "What the hell?"

The man walked in and took a few breaths before speaking. "King. We got problems."

"Lay it on me," the King replied with a calm tone. "What's going on?"

"There's a shootout going down by the train station. It's Pacer and some strangers," the King member responded. "Might be NCR."

The King lowered his head with a shake. "What is that fool doing?" He lifted his head and eyed Raven.

The courier lifted an eyebrow. "Is it really that shocking to you?" she asked.

The King straightened his shoulders. "I need you to head out there and try to diffuse the situation. Tell them I'm willing to cooperate."

Raven rolled her eyes and began walking toward the door. "Yeah yeah, I'm on it. Don't worry your pretty boy mind over the situation. I've got it covered." Before she shut the door she glanced back at the King who looked very confused and appalled. "When I get back," she spoke harshly, "you and I are going to have a dialogue." Raven slammed the door shut.

The King flinched slightly as the door slammed shut. He shivered. "What the hell's gotten into her?" he asked.

The King member looked over at his boss. "Probably what Pacer said to her when she came in."

The leader of the Kings eyeballed the other man. "What happened now?"


	13. It's A Dog's Life

Raven ran past a dead King member and jumped over some rubble as she ran for cover. A stray bullet almost hit her. She mumbled something under her breath before running toward the train station. As she did, the courier spotted Pacer crouching in fear by an old bus stop. What a coward. How he and the King ever became best friends, she had no idea why. Raven ran past him, ignoring his question on what she was doing there. Stepping over some more rubble and rocks, she spotted Elizabeth over by some old wooden tower and sighed with relief. This was going to be easier to settle now that she had her sister-in-law to talk to. Raven waved over at Elizabeth and continued her fast jog. As she approached Elizabeth, the blonde woman shook her head.

"This isn't really a good time. What did you want?" asked Elizabeth.

"The King..." the courier crouched over, catching her breath. "...wants to help with the...relief effort."

"Like he helped with the envoy we sent?" Major Kieran scoffed. "No thanks."

"You don't understand, Lizzy," Raven explained. "That...wasn't him. He..." she stood up with her hands on her hips, breathing heavily. "...didn't even know...an envoy was sent."

Elizabeth sighed and pointed a finger. "Then he should watch his back. We know for a fact that the envoy made it to their headquarters."

"Lizzy, I told the King...about it myself..." She took in a deep breath. "...He was very...shocked...and surprised..."

Elizabeth put a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Are you positive that he wasn't faking it? Swear on something important."

Raven looked into Elizabeth's eyes. "I swear it on my momma's Mirelurk Casserole that he didn't know about the envoy."

"Shit, that is important," replied Elizabeth. They both chuckled a little, the inside joke totally lost on Elizabeth's soldiers. "Alright. If the King's willing to deal with us, perhaps we can work something out. I'll tell my men to stand down."

"Thank you, Lizzy."

Elizabeth Kieran made a motion with her hand and the shooting ceased. "Raven, when you have some time off, you should stop by and have some dinner with the kids and I. You know they miss you terribly and when I told them about seeing you yesterday, they were real excited."

"Ah, yes. Nora and Jason Jr. I'll stop by in the next few days...with some mirelurk meat."

They both smiled and Elizabeth reached for Raven's Pip Boy. "I'll put the coordinates into your map. Wait a second, where did you get this thing?"

"Ah, that's a long story. I'll tell you when I come by."

After the location was put into the Pip Boy, Raven gave a good pat on Lizzy's shoulder before walking off toward the direction of the King's building. She stopped when she saw some of the King's gang members dead and shook her head. It didn't have to come to that. She noticed Pacer was walking away, but still cowering. The courier frowned. Why did Pacer have to make it out of this while the others had to die? She knelt down by a dead King and shut his eyes gently.

* * *

"Just what in the hell do you think you're doin', Pace?" the King bellowed, now fully dressed in his normal white suit.

Pacer made it back in one piece only to be torn to shreds by the King. "King, the NCR wa-"

The King slammed his fist on his pool table, cutting Pacer off . "I'm aware that you beat the hell out of the rep for no good reason. While that was completely uncalled for, that's not the only reason why you're knee deep in trouble right now!"

Pacer crossed his arms, a confused expression on his face. "What the hell do you mean?"

"I'm talking about your behavior toward Miss Wagner."

Pacer rolled his eyes. "Oh, you mean her."

The King turned around, glaring at his right-hand man. "Yeah. She's done a lot for Freeside and we owe her some respect."

"That's bullshit, King. She's a snake trying to find her way past your defenses so she can probably kill you."

The King turned his back to Pacer, grasping the edge of the pool table. "Miss Wagner is not part of the NCR. Besides, the NCR wouldn't try to pull a stunt like that again, especially after what you did to their assassin."

"And I'd gladly do it again."

"I don't care, Pacer!" the King swirled around and walked to Pacer, pointing a finger at him. "NCR or not, Charlotte did not deserve to die like that! And Raven has done nothing to deserve the crap you've been pulling. I will not let you out of it this time! You've undermined my authority, treated potential allies like monsters, and gone against everything we stand for as Kings! Either you shape up or you can ship out...permanently. Is that understood?"

"...Yes, King. Came in loud and clear."

"Good," the King barked before showing his back to Pacer. "Now, you're going to give a very heart felt apology to Miss Wagner and you better fuckin' mean it this time. You're also going to apologize to that NCR rep for your actions. To his face. When you're done with that, report back to me."

Pacer agreed and walked out of the room. When the King heard the door shut, he walked to a chair by the window and sat down. Rex came up to him and started licking his hand. The King smiled down at his old friend and scratched behind the dog's ears. Rex panted softly as he looked up at his master before placing a paw on the King's knee.

"You're a good boy, Rex." the King said. Just then he heard a knock on the door. "Yes?" he yelled out calmly.

"Are you decent?" a voice asked as the door opened slightly. It was Raven's voice.

"Yes, I'm decent. Please come in, Miss Wagner."

Raven walked in slowly, her eyes drifting to the King and Rex. She didn't say anything as she made her way to both of them. As she cornered the pool table, the courier leaned herself against it. Rex walked up to her and sat down in front of her, staring up at her in anticipation. Raven smirked at him and lazily trailed her nails under his chin. The King watched her curiously, waiting for her to speak. When she made no attempt, the King ran a hand through his jet black hair.

"I heard all about what happened. Maybe it's time for a little more talkin' and a little less fightin'."

Raven eyed him suspiciously. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"I...also heard about what Pacer said to you."

"Yeah, I ran into him downstairs. His apology seemed sincere," she smirked.

"That's good." He stood up from his chair and walked up to her. "But I think I owe you an apology as well, Miss Wagner."

The courier tilted her head. "Oh really? For what?"

The King rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Not just for Pacer's attitude, but for my inability to keep him in line. He's got his reasons, but he's always been the type to shoot first and ask questions later." The King looked at her sincerely. "I should probably explain why."

Raven lifted a hand. "No explanation is needed. At least not now. We can save that discussion for another time." she said, as if understanding how bad a subject it was. "Anyway, about Rex here...have you given any thought about my offer?"

The King smiled at her, grateful that she was still willing to help Rex out. "Yes I have."

"And?" she bit her lower lip.

Rex barked a few times at the King, encouraging him to continue. "And...well, you've done some good work for me. Now I know for certain you're capable of making that trip and keeping Rex safe, so...I'll lend him to you since you already promised to get him to that doctor."

A broad smile lightened up her face. "Absolutely. I'll see that he gets better," she said, and Raven giggled when she knelt down to Rex and hugged him. "Did you here that, boy? I'm taking you to get fixed!"

Rex tilted his head and made a weird sound. "Aroo?"

Raven laughed as she looked at Rex. "No, not that kind of fixed. I was talkin' about your brain, silly!"

The King shook with laughter.

* * *

"Are you sure you can make this trip without me?" asked Boone. He had to remove his hat so Rex wouldn't become hostile. Raven would have to ask about that later.

"Yes, I'm sure. You just concentrate on getting better. I'll be back before you know it." she said, stuffing a pack full of supplies. "Besides, from my understanding Rex is going to need a new brain entirely."

"Really? Just any old dog brain will do?"

Raven shook her head. "No. It's got to be an exceptional one, and only the best will do for Rexie here." she smirked. "But I'll probably need more than a new brain."

"And you know this how?" he asked.

"Well, from the looks of it, his brain is not working right because it's old and the gel isn't able to sustain the brain functions anymore. I'll have to examine him a bit more, but I'm starting to suspect he's got other problems going on besides an old brain. I'm not sure, but I could have sworn he's got some ataxia going on." Raven looked at Boone.

"What the fuck is ataxia?"

"Shaky and unsteady movements. Rex's brain is unable to keep a good posture for very long, and his amount of strength is lowering each day. Mostly in his back limbs, which is almost impossible to detect considering his hind legs are cybernetic. But it's there."

"Anything else?"

"Muscle atrophy, which is hard to notice on a cyber dog. That could be from malnutrition but I doubt the King would let his dog starve. I suspect he has a spinal cord problem."

"Are you a doctor or something?" asked Boone.

"...Not exactly."

Boone sighed. "I don't understand why you like dogs so much, Wagner. They bark, they drool, they smell funny...they have weird quirks like hating hats," he huffed. "They don't even poop or pee in a toilet."

Raven chuckled. "Toilets weren't designed for dogs. They were designed for people. And a dog's gotta do his or her business somewhere."

"Do you know how many times I've stepped in dog shit on the way here from Novac?"

"Ha! That's because you weren't paying attention to where you were stepping...and how do you know it was just dog shit?" she teased.

Boone laid down on his cot and grunted. "That's just sick, Raven." Just then, Rex started licking the sniper's face. "Aaaah! Sonuva-" he sat up quickly and nudged Rex away. "Knock that off, you mangy mutt!"

Raven almost fell over from laughing so hard. "C-careful, Boone," she stammered. "You don't know where that tongue has been!"

"The hell is that suppo-" Boone watched as Rex shifted and leaned his head down to lick his own private parts. "Oh my god! That's...ooh gross!" Boone grabbed a bottle of water and started wiping his face with the contents. "I need some detergent...no, I need abraxo! Help me get this shit off!"

"No pun intended?" This time, Raven doubled over with loud and joyful laughter. Clearly, Boone never had a pet dog before.

* * *

The King stood at the gates of Freeside as Raven and Rex walked to him. Raven gave a friendly wave and the King smiled at her. Rex ran to the King and jumped up in him. The King laughed and kissed the dog's face before looking at Raven.

"I really appreciate you doing this, Miss Wagner. I can't thank you enough."

"No problem, Mr. King."

"Now, there's a few things you should know about ol' Rex here while you're traveling together. First, he hates rats. Can't stand the things. Giant rats, molerats, doesn't matter. He catches a whiff of one and he's off like a shot after them. He's normally pretty obedient, but you might have to chase him some if he goes after one of the little varmints."

Raven stared at Rex and made a face. "That...shouldn't be a problem."

"Ok. Second, he doesn't like hats, or the people wearing them. Don't ask. I have no idea why. Maybe because it rhymes with 'rats'. That should be it, though. Other than the occasional bad spot when his brain starts hurting him, that is, but I'm hoping you'll see to that. I wish you both luck. Take care of my Rex now, y'hear?"

Raven nodded. "Of course, Mr. King."

The King leaned down to Rex and scratched his neck. "Rex, this is your new master. Protect her, as you would me."

Rex responded with a few barks and a lick of the King's face. Raven watched as the gate opened, and she began walking through it. She gave a sharp whistle and Rex perked his ears. He ran to the girl eagerly and the King stood. He watched them both stand there and he frowned a little. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to. Then, as if she could sense his inner battle, Raven gave the King a reassuring smile as the gates began to close.

"Rex will be just fine. I promise." was all she said before the gates shut completely.

The King lowered his head and shut his eyes. "Please come home ok...the both of you."


	14. It Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing

It wasn't long after Raven and Rex's departure when the King found himself by the old train station in search of the NCR. He still wasn't too fond of them, but still, the whole situation between his Kings and the soldiers wouldn't have been so tense between the two groups had it not been for Pacer. This was very unlike his best friend to go off and do things without the King's consent, or to just flat out go behind his back on things. The King found himself to be very lucky that he'd gotten someone to intervene, even though Raven was an outsider. It lessened the hostilities, but there was still some definite patching up to do. As he reached the hideout, the King saw only one guard at the door. The man looked confused as the King strolled up to him.

"Uh, can I help you?" the soldier asked.

"Yeah, actually. I'd like to speak to the person in charge of your...operation, here. Please."

"U-Uh, yeah. Sure. Hang on a minute." the guy reached for the door and opened it before peeking inside. "Major? There's someone here to see you."

The King shoved his hands into his pockets as he waited. He didn't wait long. A woman came out through the door and widened her eyes in surprise. "Mr. King. This is-"

"Unexpected?" the King finished her sentence. When the woman nodded, the King smiled. "I just wanted to swing by and thank you for earlier today."

The blonde haired woman nodded again. "Well, that's...surprising." she ran a hand through her hair, obviously perplexed.

"I was hoping we could talk about the relief and work out the arrangements together, if that's alright."

"Of course. Let's take a walk." The woman took a few steps toward him and held out her hand. "I'm Major Elizabeth Kieran."

He smirked and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Major. And yes, let's walk for a bit."

They released hands and after Elizabeth told one of her men to take care of things, they began walking around for a bit. "So, if you don't mind me asking, why personally come here instead of sending Raven?"

"Miss Wagner is running an errand for me. Well, actually, it's more like doing a personal favor for me."

Elizabeth chuckled. "She sure hasn't changed at all."

The King eyed the major. "Sounds like you've known for awhile."

"Know her? She's my sister-in-law. Before a few days ago, I hadn't seen her in six years, but it's good to know the Wasteland didn't wear her down. A few postcards between the two of us, though, here and there."

"Interesting," the King commented. "I wasn't aware Miss Wagner had family to speak of. She uh, tends to avoid the subject."

"Raven had an unkind childhood, King," replied Elizabeth. "I won't get into it but let's just say that when she decided to leave home, I was happy for her."

The King noticed the look Elizabeth gave him; an expression that said he shouldn't press the matter. "So, about the relief..."

* * *

The ground crunched beneath the courier's feet as she crouched down. The hunting rifle Raven carried fit perfectly in her hands as she aimed in the direction that Rex had growled in. His snarl certainly came in handy when he smelled things she didn't spot right away. Raven saw a Cazador in her line of sight and smirked. With a pull of the trigger, a slight recoil and a loud bang, the bullet sped through the air gracefully; flawlessly. In a matter of seconds, the Cazador's head lurched back as she hit the target. Raven smiled triumphantly as the blood splattered against some rocks. Boone would have been so proud of her. In the time spent together, he'd taught her how to be a proper sniper and was astonished had how fast of a learner the courier really was. However, Raven failed to mention that she'd been shooting mutated bugs and ghouls from a variably long distance since she was a kid. Still, the lessons gave Boone a purpose other than killing Legionaries and Raven had been a little rusty.

"Thanks for the spot, Rex." she turned around and set her rifle down, smirking at the dog. "Such a good boy."

Rex wagged his tail and walked to her, almost looking like he was beaming for himself. He barked a few times and she giggled before scratching behind his ear. Raven glanced at her Pip Boy and sighed, then glanced at the sky. It was going to be dark soon and she knew they both needed some rest. It had been a long day. Raven glanced at her map and estimated they'd be in Jacobstown by midday tomorrow, and she shook her head at the other sedated dog resting peacefully beside them. She knew Rex needed a new brain and decided to head out to the Fiends' location first. On the way to New Vegas she and Boone observed the savage tribe from afar and the girl had taken note of one of their dogs. This particular dog was..speedy, for lack of a better word. And the animal seemed more intelligent than the rest, but Raven hadn't been sure until earlier today. She'd heard the name 'Violetta' when Rex and her approached the encampment and the rate this dog had ran toward them was astonishing. Even more amazing was that Violetta hadn't attacked them at all.

Despite her speed, the animal looked miserable, malnourished and weakened. Raven knew, even with an intervention now, the poor girl wouldn't last more than a few days. And if she'd killed her now, the body would be useless by the time she brought it to Jacobstown. So, instead of killing her, Raven lured the dog in with some meat and water. When Violetta took the bait, Raven watched as the dog fell over and passed out. Raven spiked the meat with some meds that would surely keep the girl out of consciousness for a while.

"Rex, I think we should take a nice break from walking and get some sleep. What do you think?" Rex barked happily. "Glad you agree." Raven stood and looked out at the horizon, her eyes catching sight of some metal shacks off in the distance. "Ah, I think we found our camping spot, buddy. Let's go."

Raven grabbed her rifle and Violetta's unconscious form, and began the trek over to her target. Rex padded happily at her heels. After what seemed like ages, they finally reached one of the houses. As far as she could tell, Raven figured the place was abandoned. Slowly she opened the door. When she found no one, she sighed in relief and exhaustion. Raven pushed the door completely open and Rex sauntered in, sniffing around to familiarize himself with the area. After settled the other dog on a bed, Raven sat down herself and sighed. As she reached into her pack for some water and food, Rex nudged Violetta with his nose. He whined and looked at Raven.

"What? She's still out." When Rex whined again, the courier looked down and noticed blood trickling slowly below Violetta's tail. "Oh. Don't worry about that. She's just in heat."

Rex tilted his head to the side. "Aroo?"

Raven chuckled to herself. "Why am I talking to a dog? Ok, Rex," the courier began, "she's just fine. She just smells good because she's almost ready to mate. Understand?" Rex growled a little, as if in frustration. He nuzzled his nose against one of Violetta's paws and huffed. "Um..." Raven thought for a moment but she had no idea what was wrong. "I don't understand, Rex. What's the matter?"

Rex barked a few times and panted. Raven shook her head at him. Suddenly, Violetta started shaking a bit. Groans were forming from her throat and Raven stood up and backed away, pulling a pistol from her hip and aiming it at the door. Rex sat by the bed and barked a few more times before the dog opened her eyes slowly and lifted her head. Her eyes looked around the room then settled on Rex. The male cyber dog panted happily and wagged his tail. Raven shifted her head a little, confused by the situation. Violetta whined and groggily inched her body toward Rex. He leaned his head in and started licking her face gently before jumping on the bed and settling in beside her. Violetta sniffed at Rex and whimpered and began licking one of his paws. Raven lowered her gun slowly and frowned.

"Oh. You...two know each other, don't you?"

* * *

It was almost midday, and Raven's heart was heavy. After watching both the animals show affection with one another, it occurred to the courier that they had been friends at one point, or mates. It also shocked her that as they walked to Jacobstown, Violetta willingly trailed after Raven. With Rex walking next to Violetta, of course. It saddened her that out of the dogs she could choose, Raven picked a dog that Rex knew to replace his failing brain. As they traveled up the winding road on the mountains, Raven saw the remnants of a building and a few signs. And Super Mutants. Fantastic. But she continued onward. She had a job to do. As she approached the entrance (which consisted of wooden walls and a Super Mutant standing guard) Raven noticed another that looked a bit different than the rest. He saw her and approached her. Slowly. This was a good sign so Raven opted not to aim her rifle at the Mutant. They reached each other and Raven felt significantly better that this one was actually friendly and had impressive grammar, all things considered.

"Welcome to Jacobstown, human." said the mutant. "You're free to walk around, just don't stare at the Nightkin. They don't like people looking at them. And if you're NCR, keep it to yourself," he warned. "They're not popular around here."

"Gotcha," she replied. "I'm looking for Doctor Henry."

"Doc's inside the Lodge."

Raven nodded and started walking. Both Rex and Violetta followed behind her and when she reached the front door, she turned and faced the two dogs. She knelt down by the both of them and frowned, giving them both a scratch behind their ears. She stood and turned, then opened the door and walked inside the place. It was breathtaking, even despite it's age. It was huge. Raven stared in awe of it and tried to imagine what it looked like in the Pre-War days. Her thoughts were interrupted by a Nightkin's voice.

"Another human. One was enough."

She sighed in irritation and looked over at a room on the right. She began walking toward it and when she looked inside, Raven noticed a man and a ghoul. She walked up sheepishly, carefully, before addressing the man in a white shirt and dark brown pants. He turned to Raven and blinked.

"I assume this is something important? You're interrupting my research." he said bluntly.

 _"Great. Another asshole."_ she thought. "Um, my cyber dog here is suffering from neural degradation, and possibly degenerative myelopathy as well. I was told to come to you about fixing him."

The doctor seemed surprised at her medical knowledge. "Interesting," he said, and looked past her at Rex. "Hmm, mind if I take a look at him?"

The male dog walked up to Doctor Henry immediately and Raven knelt down by Violetta. She scratched behind her ears and the female dog seemed to delight in the affection. They both watched as Doctor Henry examined Rex, looking quite intrigued now instead of annoyed by the interruption of his research. After a few minutes, Raven stood and walked to Rex and the doctor.

"So, I assume he's going to need a new brain, correct?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied. "Bio med gel can only preserve a living brain for so long, and you're right about the degenerative myelopathy, so you'll need to find a replacement brain and spinal cord," the doctor glanced at Violetta, "...but I see you already brought one. Looks in pretty bad shape. Probably won't last long, from the look of it."

Raven crossed her arms and bit her lower lip. "So...she'll die no matter how much I try to undo the damage done?"

Doctor Henry looked at Raven almost apologetically. "I'm afraid so. Diminished muscle mass, showing of the ribs, unstable stance...how did she get like this?"

Raven lowered her head sadly. "Fiends. I first saw her about a couple weeks ago and she looked better than this...and when I heard about Rex's condition, I figured he'd need a new brain and she seemed like an exceptional choice. But...uh...I think they've been acquainted with each other before this."

"I see..." the doctor turned and put a finger to his chin, thinking for a bit. "Well, I haven't left Jacobstown in years, but there was one woman in Novac...Gibson? I remember her living with a pack of hounds."

"Yes, I know her. There was one dog with her that was a good specimen, but was quite old. That wouldn't do for Rex. Not only that, but that's a long trip. And while I know Caesar's Legion fights with dogs, I haven't come across any special dogs with them. Most of them are just...programmed to kill, kill, kill. I want to give Rex the best brain out there and as far as I can tell, Violetta has the best one. Is there any other group out there that might have better choices?"

The doctor thought hard but ultimately shrugged at Raven. "Not that I can think of. I'm sorry but...Violetta seems like your best bet."

Raven looked down at Rex who panted happily. The look on her face, however, made him stop. She knelt down to him. "Rex, buddy...we need Violetta's brain to fix you. Do you understand?" They both looked at Violetta, who had settled down on the floor comfortably. "How long do you think she has, Doc?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. A few days, maybe a week." The doctor snapped his fingers. "If you're worried about Rex, he's got plenty of time. She doesn't. We could just wait for her to...die on her own. Make her comfortable until she passes, then do the surgery. Give Rex more time with her. And from what I've seen, you have extensive knowledge with medical studies. Perhaps you could help me with my research in the meantime."

Raven pondered the idea, but then she beamed at the doctor. "You're a genius, Doc! Oh, I would have to tell the King about it. Hmm...is there anyone here that could deliver a note to Freeside for me?"

"Yes, actually. We have a caravan that comes in once a week for supplies. He's supposed to come by sometime tomorrow, so he could pass it along for you." replied the doctor. "Why don't you take the pups and get set up with a room?"

"Sounds good, Doc." Raven stood up with renewed vigor. "C'mon, guys." she clapped her thighs and both dogs got up excitedly before chasing after her to the lobby.


	15. Thinking About You

The King was anxious. Raven and Rex left two days ago but they weren't back yet. He stood in his shower and let the water rush over his body hoping it would put his mind at ease about Rex, but it didn't. If only he knew that those two were safe and in Jacobstown, he'd be satisfied. The King knew Raven would get the job done, but he wondered if it was more than a job to her. He also wondered what would happen once she returned. He had no more jobs to give her, at least at the moment. The thoughts of a few nights before at the Atomic Wrangler captured his mind. Watching that girl sing was mesmerizing, to say the least. Her presence on that stage with his guitar, the way her voice captivated the audience, and the full lips that sang each word with precision and accuracy...he never saw it coming. The way her black hair fell framed Raven's face perfectly. The courier's brilliant green eyes were a testimony to her survival instinct and the big heart that the girl carried held inside her. That night, the man had a lot of scotch so perhaps her beauty was amplified. But why think of it now?

No, he was just shaken by Rex's absence. The King shut the shower off and stepped out, drying himself with a towel. Raven was full of pleasant and shocking surprises, but in the end, she was just trying to make the world a better place one step at a time. Admirable, but he knew once she was done with helping him, she'd go off and fix other people's problems. The thought of it caused a frown from him, but only because the courier was so damn reliable. Her services were top notch and rare to find. The King would miss having her around if only for her efficiency and ability to provide good, clean results. The King needed to give something back to her. Raven deserved to receive some sort of payment. He reached for his white rocker suit and began dressing himself. What could he possibly give to a woman who seemed to require nothing in return?

As he tied his shoes, the King started running through his options. Money? No. He found caps couldn't pay for this kind of work. A present, maybe? He wasn't sure what kind of gift he could give the woman. At least one she would really like. Maybe he'd swing by the Mormon Fort and ask her friend Boone about the things she liked. Or maybe he'd ask Major Kieran about it. The King went back into his bathroom and began applying hair gel to his hair with his hands, then he took a comb and began making a masterpiece of his hair. When that was done, he rinsed his hands in the sink and made his way out of the bedroom and downstairs. When the King reached the lobby he saw a stranger walk into the building. Caravan merchant, perhaps. He ignored the man until the King heard his own name called and he eyed the stranger. One of his members pointed to the King and the stranger walked to him.

"I have a letter for the King." he said as they confronted each other. "It's from Jacobstown."

The King reached for the note and opened the envelope with haste. He began reading it.

_Dear Mr. King,_

_I have reached my destination and Rex will be fixed in no time. However, I'm afraid there has been a complication. The donor I found, well...it's complicated. I'll explain once I return Rex to you, but all I ask is that you trust my judgment on this. I know it's a lot to ask but I really feel this is the best for Rex. If I have your permission, Rex and I will return in about a week or so. He'll be good as new, I promise._

_Sincerely,_

_Miss Wagner_

_P.S. If you agree to this, would you please let Major Kieran know I'll be gone for a bit? She'll understand why. If you haven't met her yet, she's the one in charge of the food relief over by the train station. I would really appreciate it._

The King sighed. What the hell did she have up her sleeve? He had no reason to doubt her, but still, this was suspicious. The King didn't like not knowing things. He gave the 'postman' a few caps from his pocket.

"If you come back in an hour, can you deliver a note to Jacobstown for me?"

"Sure. I was headed back there anyway. I'll be back in an hour."

The stranger left and the King made his way back to his bedroom to write a response.

* * *

_One day later..._

"Raven, would you please hand me that syringe?" asked Doctor Henry.

The courier did as she was asked and gave the doctor the syringe. Just in one day, Raven managed to find the cause of the Nightstalker's cloaking mutation as well as settle one of the Nightkin down into being a bit more patient with a cure for their schizophrenia, a byproduct of Stealthboy overuse. The courier was reminded how much fun being a scientist was. As a little girl, Raven's mother taught the child the importance of science and medical knowledge. Especially medical knowledge with animals. Mrs. Wagner's profession was a veterinarian, and Raven had been the veterinarian's assistant for most of her childhood. The joy of looking at samples through microscopes and coming up with mind blowing theories about how organisms worked, though, had always been Raven's favorite past time. And the work she was currently doing with Doctor Henry really took her back.

"Maybe I should have brought back a live specimen for this, Doc. I'm curious if Nightstalkers can ever be domesticated." she commented.

"I'm curious to know how a courier knows so much about science and medicine, to be honest," the doctor said. "It's not every day that I meet a 'jack of all trades' kind of person."

"I guess you could say that. Well," she explained, "my mom was a veterinarian, you see. And a scientist. She taught me everything she knew, and she was brilliant. My mother was also a fabulous cook."

"I see. What about your father? Did he teach you anything?"

Raven stopped for a moment before slicing a sample off the dead Nightstalker with a scalpel. "...I suppose he did. He was a..." she paused, "...very strict man, you could say. Didn't appreciate any weaknesses. 'Survival of the fittest' was his motto."

The doctor looked at her with a sympathetic expression. "You said your last name was Wagner, right? Your father...was his name Jack Wagner?"

Raven looked back at him, eyes widened. "Yeah, actually. How'd you know?"

The doctor smiled before sticking the needle in the Nightstalker and pumping the plunger a few times. "I do believe I knew both your parents," he said, pulling the needle out and aiming it toward a microscope slide. "back when I was at Shady Sands. Well, 'New California Republic' I should say. Your mother Martha was a very bright student, just like her brother."

Raven blinked a few times. "She had a brother? I didn't know that."

"Oh yeah," he said. "James left for Washington D.C. about, oh, twenty something years ago? He was very bright, just like your mother. Brains ran pretty high in the family, I guess." He pushed the plunger down and small bits of liquid splattered onto the slide. "So, how are your folks?"

Raven slipped her sample into a tube full of liquid and sealed it with a cap. "Mom died when I was about 12 years old, and I haven't seen Dad since I left home."

The doctor frowned again. "I'm sorry to hear about your mother."

Raven put the tube down and leaned her hands on the table. "Yeah," was all she mustered.

Just then, a man walked into the room with an envelope. "Raven Wagner?" She turned and nodded at the man. "You've got a letter," he said and brought it to her.

Raven thanked the man, handed him some caps, and opened the note.

_Dear Miss Wagner,_

_I'm not sure what's going on, but I'll trust your word. For now, at least. You better have a damn good explanation when you come back. In the meantime, I've asked the man who gave you this letter to bring letters back and forth for us until you return. I want an update on Rex's condition. I deserve to know how my friend is doing. I still don't appreciate you keeping him longer without telling me why, but like I said, there better be a good reason for it. If I find any reason to believe you're up to something that's not in my best interest or Rex's, you'll regret it._

_Signed,_

_Mr. King_

_P.S. I'll pass your word onto the Major._

Raven crumpled up the letter and threw it into the fireplace angrily. She narrowed her eyes at the delivery man. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

* * *

_One day later..._

The King was eating some gecko bits and drinking Nuka-Cola when the delivery man came through the door. He shivered as he handed the King an envelope. He opened the letter and as he read it, the King's eyes went dark.

_Dear Mr. King,_

_Per your request, here's an update on Rex. His vitals are good and his brain activity is steady. Since being with him, he hasn't had any 'attacks'. His heart rate and blood pressure are both normal, and the donor's blood and Rex's blood are a match meaning his body will not kill off the replacement organ. His temperature is in the average range and while the organ in question is still causing him some confusion and walking difficulties, Rex has a very good prognosis. Rex is also suffering from degenerative myelopathy so he's going to need some spinal cord work as well. Fixing the problem will get his muscle mass back to normal and he will no longer suffer from ataxia. Overall, Rex seems quite happy and comfortable here in the mountains. He's eating and drinking well, and I'm encouraging plenty of exercise so that Rex will be in good shape by the time he has his surgery._

_Signed,_

_Miss Wagner_

The King shook his head before handing the delivery man a few caps and reached for a piece of paper. He started writing his reply.

* * *

_The next day..._

Raven was sitting at a desk with Rex and Violetta at her feet, resting. The courier was going over some lab results when both the animals lifted their heads. Violetta was a bit slower than Rex today, and Raven frowned. Her head shifted and she saw the delivery guy again. He handed her a note and she thanked him before opening it.

_Dear Miss Wagner,_

_Thank you for the update, although some of it was gibberish. I hope your next letter contains a better description for us who are not doctors._

_Signed,_

_Mr. King_

She slammed her fist on the table before looking at the man. "How much is the King paying you, anyway?"

"'Bout a hundred caps per run, lady." He chuckled. "Though seeing the looks on both your faces whenever you get letters makes the job worth the walking."

Raven growled and began writing a very heated response letter.

* * *

_And the next day..._

An envelope landed in front of the King at his table and he sighed. He started to open it when he looked at the man who delivered it. "How is Miss Wagner, by the way? Is she doing ok?"

"You want the truth or do you want a 'sunshine and rainbows' answer, sir?" he bit back a laugh.

The King raised an eyebrow. "The truth, if you don't mind."

"Oh, she's madder than hell. I don't know exactly what you two are saying to each other but if I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were husband and wife with the way you both act after reading each letter," he explained.

"We're not a couple," The King commented. "She's just an acquaintance who's doing a job for me." He finished ripping open the envelope, unfolding the paper, and started reading.

_Dear Mr. King,_

_If you're having a problem with understanding the medical terms, ask Julie Farkas to explain them to you. Every second that I have to spend updating you is taking away valuable time that I could spend preparing_ _your_ _dog and the donor for a brain and spinal cord transplant. After every god damn thing I've done for you and your precious Freeside, I never expected gratitude but I was hoping you'd have some faith in me to not screw you over. Rex is a wonderful dog and I am dedicated to his recovery. I cherish Rex just as much as I cherish..._

The King noticed some eraser marks at that part in the letter.

_...as much as I cherish your friendship with me, if you want to call it that. Perhaps I was wrong to think I'd earned some of your trust, even after our conversation at the Atomic Wrangler. So, I suppose I should explain the situation and apologize for not telling you before. You see, the donor is a dog I found with the Fiends named Violetta. And from what I've seen, Rex and Violetta were once familiar with each other. I don't think Rex would ever forgive me if I killed her, but she's not in the best shape. In fact, I don't expect her to live beyond the next few days. Once she passes on her own, then we can do the surgery. Those two are quite taken with each other and I just want those two to have a little more time together before Violetta dies. Call me crazy, call me weak, whatever. I just don't have the heart to shoot the poor girl._

_Signed,_

_Miss Wagner_

"Shit," the King murmured as he turned to the man. "Have you seen the cyberdog up there in Jacobstown?"

"Often, and he's either running around with your friend or cuddled up with some mutt named Violetta. It's cute the way Rex dotes on her, though." he replied.

The King immediately began a response. "That woman is going to be the death of me, I swear."

* * *

_The next day..._

Raven smiled at Rex and Violetta as they huddled up by the fireplace together. Rex was grooming her and it was an adorable sight even though she knew Violetta was not going to last much longer. Watching the two dogs together was bittersweet. As she went over the schematics of Rex's body on the computer, Doctor Henry came over with two cups of coffee. He handed Raven a cup and she thanked him kindly as he sat down. The courier took a sip of it and smiled gently. Even though it was very old coffee, it was still pretty damn good.

"Mail drop off!" a voice yelled and Raven sighed.

"Don't you ever sleep or rest or...something?" she asked.

"No, ma'am." the man said, cheerful as ever. "Not for the amount of money I'm getting from this."

He handed Raven an envelope and she hesitated before opening it.

_Dear Miss Wagner,_

_Thank you for telling me about Rex and Violetta. Now that I know what's going on, I'd like to say something to you. I wish I could tell you in person but this can't wait. I value our friendship. I value everything you've done for this city, for me, and I especially value you. Making you feel unappreciated or degraded was not my intention at all. I am grateful for all the things you've done, and for having you around. I suppose that's part of the reason why I was a little cold in my letters. It's because...  
_

Some words were scribbled out from the paper, but Raven could have sworn she saw the words 'I miss seeing you here' but it was hard to tell.

_...It's because your presence here is missed. Rex's presence is missed. Not just by me, but by the people here in Freeside. The food relief is going well, Pacer's behavior has changed quite a bit, and Major Kieran is anxious to see you back. Something about having Mirelurk Casserole with you, but I'm not sure what the hell that means. Maybe you'll explain that one to me. Anyway, in light of everything you've done for all of us, I want to make it up to you. Name anything you want or need and I'll do my best to make it happen. Let me know._

_Sincerely,_

_Mr. King_

Raven didn't notice the smile creeping on her face as she read the letter until she looked at both the doctor and the 'postman'. She coughed uncomfortably and set her cup down before writing a reply.

* * *

_The next day..._

The King grasped the brand new letter he just received. He felt unsure about what he just read so he looked at the paper again to make sure.

_Dear Mr. King,_

_Nothing really big comes to mind right now, but how do you feel about sharing dinner with me sometime?_

_Sincerely,_

_Miss Wagner_

The King scratched his head. "A date, huh?" he asked himself, puzzled at the boldness of her invitation. He was even more puzzled why he didn't ask her first.


	16. Steadfast, Loyal and True

Raven held her head in her hands and she took a deep breath. Raven lifted her head and stared at the lump underneath a sheet on the operating table. While she'd only known Violetta for a short time, her death this morning had been heart breaking for the courier as well as for Rex. She'd tried not to get too attached to the animal, but despite the dog's previous environment, she was rather sweet and gentle. Whatever strength the female canine possessed went into affection with Rex or walking to Raven for a quick dog kiss on the hand or to receive a good scratch behind the ear. Raven stood and walked to the table. As she lifted the sheet, tears threatened to overflow again. The lifeless form of Violetta was cold, unmoving, and...empty. The top of Viioletta's head was sewn back on as well as the incisions into her back to gain access to the spinal cord. She put the sheet down and turned away, staring over at Rex's unconscious form on another operating table. Raven wiped her face and smoothed herself out, confidence and cool once more, before moving over to Rex, Calamity, and Doctor Henry.

"I'm ready, Doctor Henry."

The doctor and Calamity nodded at Raven. "Are you sure you'll be fine?" asked the doctor.

"Yes," she answered calmly. "I just needed a few minutes to collect myself."

"Good. Now, Calamity," Doctor Henry turned to the ghoul, "let me know if any of the readouts become abnormal. Raven, put on some gloves. You're going to put the new brain once I get the old one out."

Raven nodded and began prepping her hands for sanitation before inserting her hands into each latex glove. "All done." she said as her fingers wiggled.

The doctor started working with Rex's head case, unscrewing a few nuts and bolts before he began draining out the gel encased in Rex's head. Soon after, he asked Calamity to start cleaning the gel. As she did so, the hydraulics's activated and the casing opened itself. Electricity sparked mildly before the casing began buzzing and the lights died out completely. Raven released the breath that she'd been holding onto. Doctor Henry unplugged a few things from the brain before lifting it from the case and Raven grasped Violetta's brain. She placed it into the hole of Rex's head and the doctor complimented the courier's replication of the plug-ins before she herself plugged in a few wires into the new brain. The girl shut the casing slowly and he good doctor began twisting a tiny valve on the side. The now clean gel was placed under it with a tube and the gel began getting sucked back into the casing. Soon, the brain and the inner works of Rex's head began sparking to life once more as the gel filled the gap once more. Raven sighed victoriously.

"Excellent work," said Doctor Henry. "Now, let's get working on that spinal cord, shall we?"

Hours passed as the three worked on Rex, taking every precaution to not destroy the new spinal cord portion from Violetta's body. Luckily the only problem in Rex's spine was isolated to the thoracic region of his spine which was connected to many cybernetic wires to the hind limb robotics and machinery of Rex's body. Theoretically, they only needed a small portion of Violetta's spine for the procedure. Flesh became melded and new wires were inputted and before long, the last bit of metal and steel was set into place. Raven cracked her neck and grunted, The surgery went well and no complications had occurred. Calamity began typing in some information into the computer before removing the needles in Rex's skin. After a few moments, Rex's eyes began fluttering open and Raven smiled down at him.

"Hey buddy. We're all done," she said. "Now you just stay there until you're ready to move." Raven began listening to Rex's heart beat her a stethoscope and timed each beat. "Heart sounds good, no irregularities, bpm is 186...a little fast, but that should clear up when all the anesthesia leaves his system," she mentioned before directing her ears to Rex's lungs. "Respiration is clear and his rpm is 25 rpm," Raven stated to Doctor Henry. "Rexie, you are such a good patient."

Rex yawned loudly after lifting his head a little. Raven, Calamity, and Doctor Henry spent some time clearing the supplies and tools away, sterilizing the equipment and cleaning themselves up. Rex laid on the table patiently, waiting for them to finish. After about 30 minutes of post-surgery cleanup, the doctor was satisfied.

"Ok, let's get him down off the table and check out his mobility," he said..

Raven and Calamity both lifted the heavy dog off the table slowly and set him down on the ground. His paws were placed appropriately and he looked up at Raven.

"How do you feel, boy?" she asked.

Rex began walking around. Unsteadily at first, but as the drugs wore off he began pacing around happily. Faster than normal, even. Raven smiled and crossed her arms, confident that the Turbo injections Violetta had gotten would be a benefit to Rex's speed. Raven's green eyes rested back on the lumpy form of Violetta and she frowned a little. Rex spotted that and ran over to her body and sniffed the sheet. He whimpered and whined, and Raven bowed her head shamefully. Why did life have to be so cruel?

* * *

Raven placed the covered body into a hole in the ground gently, tears threatening to spill from her sad green eyes. Rex, Calamity, Doctor Henry, and even some of the Nightkin and Super Mutants stood at the grave as Raven began covering the form with dirt and a shovel. Sweat was beading off her brow as the sunshine beat down on them all, and as Raven piled each amount of dirt on Violetta's dead body, her heart pounded with anxiety and her head filled with bad memories. The courier wondered what she looked like to Benny and his group of thugs as they piled dirt on her almost lifeless form in Goodsprings. When she finished, she wiped her forehead with her arm and Raven set the shovel down on the ground. Rex stared down at the fresh soil with a bowed head and melancholy eyes and someone began saying a prayer for the dead dog in the hole. Raven wondered if the men that buried her ever said a prayer for her before leaving, or if they even bothered placing a cross at her grave. Her eyes shut tightly as that fateful night played in her head, turning her head away and holding back a sob. Raven felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to the person who belonged to it.

"Rex has Violetta's brain. That means he'll have her memories as well. That way, she'll always be part of Rex." said Doctor Henry.

Raven nodded in agreement as people began leaving the cemetery. Raven looked back at Rex who laid down on the ground next to the grave. Doctor Henry began walking away as well, and the courier knelt down by Rex. She glanced a look at his brain which now looked clean and healthy. Raven brushed her fingernails by Rex's ear.

"You need some time alone, Rex?" she asked. The only response she got was a small lick on the face from Rex's tongue, and she nodded before getting up and walking away. "Just come back to the Lodge when you're ready."

Just as she descended down the hill back to Jacobstown, the delivery man was approaching the gates. The woman sighed and walked toward him. Instinctively, he handed the courier an envelope when she reached him. Raven opened it slowly.

_Dear Miss Wagner,_

_I gladly accept your invitation. Now, about that favor I owe you...just think about it for a bit._

_Sincerely,_

_Mr. King_

Raven felt her cheeks turn bright red. She'd thought asking him to dinner was the favor, but apparently he misread the letter. The courier looked at the delivery man sheepishly.

"Um, what was his reaction to my letter?"

"He looked like a, hmm...what's the phrase? Like a cat who caught the canary?" he replied. "I recall him saying, 'a date, huh?'."

"Oh shit," she said and Raven felt her face flush even more. "I wasn't asking for a date! I-I just...I...crap!"

The man laughed. "Honey, there's no point in hiding it. You're _infatuated_ with the guy."

Raven stuttered then stopped herself and placed a hand on her forehead. "I am not infatuated with him. I'm...alright, look. He's handsome but he's just a friend."

"Bullshit, lady. I don't even know you but I recognize that look," he explained. "That 'got caught with your hand in the cookie jar' look. You have it."

"I asked him to dinner as a favor, not a date!"

"Who the hell asks for a favor like that?" he asked smugly. "Besides, he had me read it the letter for justification. It sure looked like you were asking him out."

Raven stopped breathing. The guy had a point. The woman swallowed hard as she realized the trap she put herself in. "...Fuck."

* * *

"Ah, there's my favorite postman!" said the King, standing up from his normal chair in the theater.

The man shook the King's hand before giving the King an envelope. "She said she'd be back later today or early tomorrow, sir."

"That's fantastic!" replied the King. "That's great." He sat down and motioned for the delivery man to sit as well. "But why did she send me another letter?"

"You'll see," he smirked as the King opened the envelope.

_Dear Mr. King,_

_Originally, I didn't think of my offer to dinner as me asking you out. Not really. But seeing as how the postman is quite nosy and he'll probably tell you everything anyway, I might as well stop denying the truth. The truth is simply this: the postman is a nosy man and will probably tell you everything that happened when he came by with your letter. He's a sneaky bastard and quite frankly, I think you overpaid him. Anyway, Rex is all better. The surgery was successful and he's as good as new! I deem Rex as a very healthy cyberdog and all his health problems are officially gone._

_Sincerely,_

_Miss Wagner_

The King's lip quivered to hold back his amusement, but he couldn't help himself. The urge overtook him and he started laughing uncontrollably.

* * *

It was well past 3 am when Raven finally arrived at the King's school with Rex. In fact, she timed it that way. The courier was quite flustered ever since she sent off that letter and she didn't want to explain to the King to his face that she was...she didn't know what she was. Cowardly, for sure. Humiliation was at the core of her fear right now. She wasn't willing to let the King see her that way. A whole day of walking and running wore her out but she was only going to drop Rex off. She crept through the lobby slowly to reach the hallways, and after minutes of creeping and being as stealthy as possible, they reached the King's bedroom. Raven opened his door slowly and peeked in. The only lights on were from the jukebox and from the Sarsaparilla machine. They both entered the room and Rex padded confidently to the King's bed. Raven's eyes adjusted to the darkness and she saw the King's form in the bed. Raven was about to leave when she heard the King stir.

"Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!" The King exclaimed as Rex panted and barked. "You look good as new! Did my Rexie get a new brain?"

As Rex frantically covered his master's face with dog kisses, Raven chuckled before walking toward the door. Her previous mind set was still fresh in her mind but she stopped at the door when she heard the King call her name. The courier froze in her place, not sure if she should leave or stay. Ultimately, Raven found herself getting closer to the King with a shy smile. The King was now sitting up in his bed, the bed sheets splayed lazily over his lower regions. This was the second time the woman had seen the King practically naked, though the emotions she felt were very different. She kept her eyes averted to the floor, not daring to stare at the man. Vaguely out of her vision, Raven noticed Rex curling up on the bed to get some much needed rest.

"Miss Wagner, are you alright?"

"Oh, just peachy. Just wanted to bring Rex as soon as I got back." she replied. _"Please just let me get out of here now. Dammit, why does the King have to sleep naked?"_ she thought.

"Thank you, Miss Wagner," he responded. "I truly can't thank you enough. You have my eternal gratitude." As she concentrated on a specific part of the carpet, Raven heard rustling and movement. "Have you ever played Pool, Miss Wagner?" asked the King.

She lifted her gaze in confusion. "A little. Wh-" and cut herself off when she realized the King was zipping up his pants. He had nothing but pants on. _"Raven, snap out of it. Stop staring!"_ she yelled at herself in her head. "U-u-um," she stammered and looked away, "yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Let's play a game," he sauntered over to her calmly. "Won't be able to sleep now that you're back."

"Oh, ok." she replied, then caught his gaze and frowned. "I didn't mean to wake you. I'm sorry. I-"

He cut her off by placing a finger on Raven's lips. "I'm not angry with you. It's perfectly fine" he said. "No need to apologize. Besides," he continued as he removed his finger, "I was already awake."

Raven's heartbeat thundered in her ears and she felt her body heat rise. Being that physically close to an under dressed King, the lingering touch on her mouth from his finger, and the subtle scent of his skin was both petrifying and enticing. Raven was tired. Just tired, and the woman wasn't used to anyone being inside her personal bubble. When the King moved away, though, Raven pouted a little before realizing it.

" _You're in denial,"_ the thought invaded her mind. _"You want him and you know it."_

" _Shut up. I'll admit he's got a some sort of weird hold on my hormones, but I'm not interested."_

" _You're only hurting yourself in the long run,"_ her alter ego commented. _"There's nothing wrong with lusting after a man."_

" _I'm not some harlot! I barely know him! Besides, I doubt he's interested in me...that way."_

" _Honey, he's a man."_

" _He's a gentleman. Besides, I-"_

" _Want more than just a shag in the bed?"_

" _..."_

" _Face it. You want a reason to not kill yourself and you think the King might be that reason, but you're worried that he only wants a sexual relationship. So, ask him what he wants."_

"Miss Wagner," the King got Raven's attention. "Are you ready to play?" he asked, holding out a pool cue to her.

Raven bit her lower lip, then she nodded confidently and took the wooden stick.


	17. A Little Bit Of Green

The King rested his cool gray eyes on the courier as she bent over to take another shot at sinking her ball. She was horrible at this game. The woman knew how to angle her shots properly, but her problem was that she used too much power sometimes. The King shook his head with amusement as she tapped the cue ball too harshly and it went flying off the pool table. Catching a murmur of curses erupting from her, he leaned down and grasped the white ball and stood. Raven was annoyed and discouraged, and the King was loving every minute of it.

"I really hate this game." she said.

He walked over to her side and said, "You're too tense. You can't always be so rough with it."

Raven raised a brow. "Rough? That was me being gentle."

"Oh good grief, woman," he snickered. "Let me show you." The King put the cue ball on the table, went behind her and said, "Now bend over."

"What?"

The King had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. "Line up your shot."

"Oh," she said before leaning over the table and aimed her pool stick at the white ball. "Ok, now what?"

The King felt her body tense underneath him when he hovered above her, mirroring her hands with his. "Relax your muscles. Pace your breathing. Take your time with the shot; be patient," the King whispered gently in her ear. "There are some things that require a softer touch."

"Like using a sniper rifle?" she asked.

"No." he replied. "Don't think about this like using a gun."

"I'm not," said the courier. "My mind is elsewhere at the moment."

The tone in her voice clued him in as to what she was really thinking about. "Oh really? And where is your mind right now, Miss Wagner?"

Raven pulled the cue stick back and forth a little, readying her shot. "That's for me to know and for you to find out..." her body relaxed under him and the tip of her cue stick hit the ball, causing it to hit another. The ball fell into one of the corner holes perfectly, "...when I feel like telling you."

"Excellent shot," the King commented, not ready to get up just yet. "Maybe you'll tell me over dinner?"

"Oh yeah, about that," Raven inhaled sharply. "I wasn't really asking you on a date."

"Hmm," he muttered. "That's a shame. And here I was thinking we'd share a good night kiss after dinner."

Raven shot up suddenly, accidentally bonking the back of her head into the King's face. "Ouch!" she turned and shot him a shocked expression. "Oh shit, I'm sorry!"

He laughed as he checked his mouth for blood. "Oh, you got me good. You're a force to be reckoned with even when you're not trying," which caused more laughter to fill the room. "Is your head ok?"

"Don't worry about my head," she pointed out. "Is your mouth ok? Did I hurt you?"

The King's lips stung with pain. "Not too bad, actually. I'll live.

Just then, one of the doors to his room opened. It was one of the King's groupies, Amelia. "King? Is everything alright?" she said, her tone thick with a southern accent. "I heard a commotion that caused me a fright."

"I'm just fine, darlin'. Nothing to worry about," he said. He looked over at Amelia with a reassuring smile, and she went back into her room. Then the King turned back to Raven and shrugged. "They worry about me so much these days."

"I'll bet they do," Raven said with a coldness in her tone. "What exactly is their job here, anyway?"

Was that a bit of jealousy in her voice? The King rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "Well, uh...they provide certain services for my Kings...and me, on occasion."

"Hookers?"

"That's one way of putting it, I guess," replied the King. "Crudely, though."

Raven leaned against the pool table, arms crossed, and stared at the floor for a few moments. "Huh. I see."

"We should finish the game," he said to change the subject.

"Actually," she spoke up gently, "I should probably get going. I'm pretty tired."

The King brushed back his hair, feeling the texture. It was weird not having hair gel in it. "I could set you up with a bed here."

"No thanks," the courier held up a hand to decline. "I wouldn't want to prove Pacer right or anything..." she said before walking away from the table toward the direction of the door.

The King watched her leave. Why was she so mad? He leaned against the pool table before smashing his fist down on it. And even more, why did the girl upset him so much? Raven drove him up the wall with her constant changing emotions and it often left him confused, angry, and with an ache that he didn't want to look at too closely. He was well aware of what he felt but the King wasn't going to give into his emotions that easily. So he was going to do something to distract him from his thoughts. The King walked to the groupies' door and opened it.

* * *

"Tell me again why I'm doing this," Boone commented as he followed Raven down the road.

"Because you don't want to miss out a very good meal," the courier replied. "Mirelurk Casserole is absolutely delicious."

Raven and Boone were going to Elizabeth's house for dinner. This was where Raven originally wanted to bring the King for dinner, but seeing as how she was fuming at the man she decided it best not to bring him with. Instead, she was bringing Boone. Raven stared at her feet as she walked, lugging a package of fresh mirelurk meat in her hands. She was not going to think about the King right now, and was grateful when Boone took her away from those thoughts.

"Fine, but I don't like being around other people."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Would you relax? It's just Elizabeth and her two kids."

"...Why are you doing this?" he asked.

The courier paused then looked at him. "Because Elizabeth is my sister-in-law, so she's family. And I haven't seen the kids since they were very little."

"...Oh..." was all Boone could say.

As they traveled along the dismantled road near Camp Golf, the courier saw a swing set in the distance. Some kids were playing by it and Raven smiled when she saw Elizabeth with them. As the sniper and the courier neared the area, however, the woman stopped dead in her tracks when she saw more people at a picnic table nearby. One of them she recognized immediately and her heart skipped a beat. What was the King doing there? Elizabeth seemed to notice the two travelers and she waved at them both. Raven resumed her pace and smiled happily when the two children saw her and went running toward her.

"Raven!" the young girl yelled and she jumped onto the courier. Raven wrapped her arms around her niece and chuckled.

"Nora, you've gotten so big!" she exclaimed.

The older boy ran up to them both and practically tackled the courier to the ground. "Aunt Raven! We're so glad to see you!"

Raven hugged them both and smiled enthusiastically. "I can see that." She let them go and stared down at them. "You both are huge! Look at you! Jason, you're almost as tall as me! How old are you both now?"

Jason put his hands on his hips confidently, as if striking a pose. "Almost 13 now, and Nora is 10."

Boone stood behind Raven uncomfortably and Raven turned to him. "Nora, Jason...this is a friend of mine. His name is Boone." she tried hard not to laugh. "Boone, this is Nora and Jason."

"He doesn't look very happy," Nora stated when Boone just stood still.

Raven whispered to both her niece and nephew. "He's just shy. But you know what? You should push him into the lake later. He likes that."

"I can hear you," Boone spoke up.

Both the children giggled and Raven winked at them both before lifting her head to see Elizabeth walking toward them. Raven stood completely and waved. "Jason, Nora," said Elizabeth. "Why don't you two go play some more? I need to speak with your aunt."

They did as they were told and went galloping off toward the picnic table. Raven looked at Lizzy with a quizzical expression. "I brought some meat for the casserole. Guess we'll have to cook it over a campfire, though."

"No problem, but Raven...I need to tell you something. Chief Hanlon is here," the emphasis rousing suspicion in the courier.

"Um, alright. What's wrong with that?"

Lizzy looked pale. "You never met him?"

Raven shook her head. "Do I know him or something?"

Lizzy bowed her head a little and sighed. "Oh boy. How do I explain this? Um..."

The man who was the topic of that specific discussion made his way over to the three, leaving the King at the table. Raven looked at the man walking over and her blood ran cold as recognition set in. He had a beard, but the man's face could never be forgotten by the courier. Nor the look in his eyes. He was older and had more wrinkles, but the identity of him was unmistakeable. The King stared over at Raven with a distinct smile but Raven ignored it completely. Her green eyes stayed on the old man who shared the same color in his own.

"Raven. It's so good to see you." said Chief Hanlon.

The courier crossed her arms and stared viciously at the man before her. "Lizzy, what the hell is he doing here?"

"Now, Raven. It's been 6 years," Lizzy explained. "Let's put the past behind us and try to have a nice time here."

"I agree with the Major completely," Hanlon remarked. "Water under the bridge."

Boone suddenly spoke up as he watched the scene unfold. "Am I missing something here?"

Raven backed up a little before turning her gaze to Boone. "Boone, this is Elizabeth Kieran. And this is Chief Hanlon.."

Raven stepped away from all of them toward the picnic table.

* * *

The King smiled when he saw Raven walk toward him, but the smile faded when she sat down at the table with a huff and a slam of a bag on the wood. She narrowed her eyes at the King and asked, "And what are you doing here?"

"The Major invited me. I gotta tell you, though. Your niece and nephew are just the sweetest kids I-"

He was cut off when Raven removed herself from the table and began walking toward the shore of Lake Mead. The King's face crinkled with confusion before lifting himself and chasing after the woman. He followed her as the hill of the picnic grounds descended to the shore and the King's eyes followed her every move as she reached the sand. Raven paced back and forth, muttering words to herself and looking like she was about to explode. The King carefully stepped near her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Raven stopped where she was but kept her back to the man. Her shoulders began to shudder and the King frowned.

"If you don't want me here, Miss Wagner, I ca-"

"No, it's fine. I'm not mad that you're here. Not really," her voice choked. "I'm...glad that you're here, actually. I need a distraction."

The King didn't understand what she meant until she turned to face him. He saw wet cheeks and red, puffy eyes, but that was nothing more than a shock compared to her next action. The courier pulled him to her by the collar of his jacket and pressed her lips against his eagerly. He thought this display of affection was only brought on by her current emotional state, but the King felt his arms envelop her smaller frame. He couldn't help but embrace her mouth with his own and taste the sweetness of her lips, if only for a little while. This gesture brought about a fiery passion in her and the heat of her kiss burned generously on his lips, and that fantastically hungry burn traveled down to the King's loins. The sudden twitch he felt brought him back to his senses and he removed his mouth from hers by backing away.

"Whoa, easy there. Let's slow down for a minute," he said.

Raven covered her face with her hands. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that," she said shamefully. "You must think I'm some sort of a nut job."

Her laughing and crying at the same time made the King pull her to him and he held her gently against his chest. "Far from it," he comforted. "But I feel like you shouldn't kiss me only because you need a distraction." the King kissed the top of her head. "I'm all for distractions but I know you're the kind of woman who needs so much more than that, who deserves more than that. When you left the other night I started thinking about this and you know what I realized?"

Her face buried into his shoulder and she sniffled. "What?"

The King pulled the courier back a little and lifted her face with a finger under her chin, "I want this thing we have between us, but I won't pursue it unless you want it too."

Raven smiled at him for a moment, but then she looked away. "We should clarify what 'we' want."

"Oh good lord, do I have to spell it out for you?" he laughed.

"Yes," she said harshly. "I want to make sure we're on the same page, because I sure as hell don't want to be one of your 'groupies'. I want to be..." she frowned up at him, "...more to you than just a roll in the hay."

The King grinned in amusement. "Woman, why do you think I agreed to go to dinner with you thinking it was a date? Didn't anyone tell you that I've only 'dated' one woman ever?" When Raven shook her head, the King barked with laughter. "I don't date unless I'm dead serious about someone. See? I have standards."

Raven glared up at him playfully. "That's a shock."

The King put his hand over his heart and took a step back, acting like he was having palpitations. "Was that sarcasm? Oh goodness gracious, I think the world really is ending. Lord have mercy." he said as the King plopped down in the sand.

Raven crossed her arms over her chest and tried to hide a smile. "You're an ass."

The King looked up at her with feigned shock. "Oh, now she insults me? Now I've seen everything!" He felt victorious when she began to laugh. He tilted his head up at her and grinned. "There. Feel better?"

"A bit, yeah. Now that I know you can act like an idiot."

"Ooohoohoo," he laughed. "Ouch." the King said. He stood up and brushed off some sand before holding his hand out to her. "Well, don't tell anyone about it. I do have a reputation to uphold, you know."

"My lips are sealed," said the courier. She took the King's hand and he kissed it before letting it go.

"Good. Now...if I may ask, why did you need the distraction?"

Raven sighed. "That guy that was at the table, Chief Hanlon?"

"What about him?"

She looked the King dead in the eye with a serious gaze. "He's my father."


	18. Down By the Riverside

Raven walked up the hill with the King, deciding that she was not going to ruin the 'family reunion' that Lizzy obviously set up. The courier didn't blame the major, but Elizabeth had only some knowledge of the circumstances leading to Raven's departure at the tender age of 14. She most certainly wasn't going to make a fool out herself in front of the King again. As they neared the picnic table, Boone gave the courier a questioning look. Raven held her hand up, signaling that she was fine. The King leaned over and whispered something into her ear.

"I think I'm going to mingle for a bit. Talk with you later?" he asked.

"Sure," replied the courier.

The King walked away and Raven gazed after him, grateful that he didn't push the previous discussion about her father being not only a soldier in the NCR, but that the two had some bad history. The kids and Boone followed the King down the hill, and she chuckled to herself. Raven figured the King would ask about her estranged dad eventually. Right now, she just wanted to focus on making some food. Raven stared down at the bag of mirelurk meat and sighed. Elizabeth walked up to her and elbowed the younger woman in the ribs.

"So, is there something going on with you two or what?" she teased.

"What!" Raven exclaimed. "What are you talking about?" she asked as she opened the bag and started putting the pieces of meat on a stick.

"Don't be shy. C'mon, just between us girls."

Raven smirked. It sure had been awhile since she had a chance for some girl talk. "There's...something going on, yes. By the way," she nudged Lizzy with a shoulder, "thanks for inviting him."

"No problem," Lizzy replied as she started cutting up some banana yucca. "Are you upset about your dad being here?"

Raven placed another piece of meat on a skewer. "Yes, but I'll try not to start a fight."

"In other words," Lizzy commented, "you're going to avoid him as much as possible?"

"That's the plan."

Elizabeth started filling a pot with mac and cheese noodles. "Ok, because he's coming over here now."

Raven looked up and saw Hanlon walking over. "...Doesn't mean I have to speak to him."

They both went back to grinding up various items of food to stick in the pot before Raven's father reached the table. "Raven," he said. "I think we should talk, don't you?"

Raven ignored his words and continued on preparing the food and Lizzy shifted uncomfortably. "Chief, perhaps this isn't a good time."

"Then when will be a good time?" he snapped. "I haven't seen my daughter in six years." He eyeballed the courier. "I deserve to know where she's been."

Raven lifted her head and glared angrily at the old man. She hated when things never went according to plan. "Go to hell, Hanlon."

The man glared with just as much fire. "I'm your father. Don't you talk to me that way!"

"I'm not a child anymore. You have no god damn right," Raven pointed at him to emphasis her point, "to tell me what to do. The only thing you deserve from me is a swift kick in the ass."

Their voices were rising in volume. "Oh, you think you can take me? Little girl, I will hit you so hard your head will be spinning for weeks."

That man sure had not changed at all. In a heartbeat, Raven's 10mm pistol was aimed for her father's forehead. "Just try it, old man."

Elizabeth slammed her hand on the table. "Stop it! Both of you!" she yelled. "Raven, he's your father! Put the damn gun down!"

Raven growled before holstering her gun. As she began walking away, her father spoke up again.  
"Let's settle this thing with a bet, girl. A challenge. You game?"

The courier slowed her pace to a completely stop, forcing herself to not smirk at the offer. "You're a bastard." if her father knew anything about Raven, it was that she couldn't refuse a challenge. "I'll bite. What do you suggest?"

As Raven turned around, Hanlon stood up from the table. "Do you really need to ask me that?" She said nothing so he continued. "If you win, you never have to see me again. If I win, we talk. And we go fishing out on Lake Mead."

She crossed her arms and shifted her hip, raising a brow at him. "Just what makes you think I still like to fish?"

Chief Hanlon chuckled and mirrored his daughter's pose. "Call it a hunch. Do we have a deal?"

Footsteps crunched on the ground as Raven neared her father, and Elizabeth shook her head with a sigh when her sister-in-law shook the man's hand. "Deal."

* * *

The King watched as Nora and Jason Jr. played on the sandy beach with various toys and things. Boone was settled in the sand not too far away and had his sniper rifle settled neatly in his arms. Presuming that Boone was on watch for any nearby Lakelurks, the King made sure his own gun was loaded and ready in case he spotted anything. The children laughed and cheered as they began making a sand castle with the buckets they were using. The King was bored but, like Boone, he was willing to protect the children. He began thinking about things, like how he really felt about Raven Wagner. Now that his emotions were in check, the King wondered if he spoke too much to her earlier before truly registering what he was saying. It'd been a long time since he had any interest in a woman beyond anything sexual, and the last time it happened, well...

The King suddenly heard shouting over the hill. Slowly he got up and started walking up the hill to see what all the fuss was about. Halfway up he saw Elizabeth at the top and she charged down toward him with an exasperated look.

"Major, what's going on?" he asked.

She grunted and pressed a palm to her forehead. "Raven and the chief are so pig-headed! They're having a fight right now and I don't want to watch them kill each other."

The King chuckled. "Maybe yelling will do them some good."

"No, it's beyond yelling now," Elizabeth growled in frustration. "They're trying to beat the crap out of each other and betting to see who wins."

"They're what?" he exclaimed.

"I tried to stop them but once Raven sets her mind on something, there's no talking her out of it," explained Elizabeth. "She gets that from her father."

The King started running up the hill, leaving Elizabeth to her agitation. When he got to the top he spied the two family members in a heated hand-to-hand battle with each other.

* * *

Raven took a swing at Hanlon's face and connected her fist to his cheek. His head swung back a little and he almost stumbled, but the chief grabbed her fist and pulled the girl to him. In doing so, his knee came up and collided into her stomach. Raven felt herself almost heave but she crashed into the ground when her father elbowed the courier in the back. She rolled out of the path of his foot and quickly got up. Raven steadied herself and twisted her body to the side as Hanlon attempted to punch her face, only managing to hit air. The dark-haired woman hit the man in the ribs and he grunted in pain before feeling Raven's leg sweep him off his feet. The chief's back hit the ground but his body reacted quickly when the girl's foot came toward his face. He blocked the kick with both his arms and Raven almost howled when he elbowed the side of her shin. This rewarded her father's actions with a swift kick to his midsection and he rolled over with a cough before recovering and getting himself up. In doing so he watched as her leg came up to kick his face but he grabbed her ankle.

It took Raven a moment to readjust but she pushed off her other foot and, with a kick, into her father's chest before he could make another move. The kick caused him to let go of her ankle and he went sprawling backwards. Raven ran toward her father and went to backhand his face but he ducked and gave her a hard uppercut to the jaw. He jabbed her face with his other fist but she gave him a cold hard punch to the nose. This caused blood to flow from his nose but he ignored it by returning a punch to her face. Blood spilled from her mouth as Raven stumbled away from him. The girl recovered hastily but not fast enough to block or dodge the next punch he gave her. This only pissed her off more and when he attempted another punch, his fist only hit the palm of her hand. She tightened her grip and began twisting it, causing her father's throat to rumble in discomfort. Raven suddenly took in a deep breath and as she let go of his fist, her hands opened into palms. She brought her arms back and she struck Hanlon's chest as she let the air out. He went flying into the picnic table and broke the seat when he landed. They both gasped for air as they stared each other down.

"W-Where the hell did you learn that move?" her father asked.

Raven wiped some blood from her lips. "Some retired NCR Ranger over in Novac," she replied. "Looks like I win the bet, old man."

The chief chuckled and slowly stood. "Not a chance in hell, kid. I kicked your ass before and I can damn well do it again."

"Oh please. You're washed up. A has been," exclaimed Raven. "I got shot in the head, practically at point-blank range, and survived. You think I'm going to get my ass beat so easily by you? Like when I was a child?" the bitterness was thick in her throat, and she pointed a finger at her father. "Like when you beat my mother?"

"Raven Wagner!" he barked angrily. "You shut the hell up right now! I loved your mother."

Raven spit in the chief's direction. "You sure had a cruel way of showing it. I saw the bruises and cuts she tried to hide, the blood she desperately tried to clean up."

Hanlon sighed and shook his head. "You're a foolish child," he said. "Yeah, you saw all that. Did you ever actually see me abuse her?"

Raven scoffed. "Only once, but that was enough for me to know what was going on."

Her father ran a hand through his gray hair and huffed. "I slapped her. Once."

"Oh really?" she mocked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, who else could have possibly done that?"

Hanlon looked at Raven with an awkwardness she found to be unnerving. "Your mother had problems...serious problems."

The young woman glared viciously. "Is that why you killed her?"

Turning his back to his daughter, the Chief grunted. "I didn't kill her, though I'm sure my attitude towards her 'quirks' didn't help any. Your mother...she..." Raven heard his voice choke. "Your brother was old enough to know what was going on. I guess you weren't. I should have told you this instead of...hurting you like I did."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

There was a long pause before the Chief spoke up. "Your mother was hurting herself, Raven. Physically. The bruises, the cuts, the blood...that was all her. As well as her death. She committed suicide."

Raven couldn't believe what she was hearing. She just couldn't. "You're a god damn liar. Momma never would have done that!" she walked to her father and pulled him around to face her. "There's just no way!"

"She was a self-destructive woman," the Chief said, staring at his daughter sadly. "Your mother taught both you and Jason a lot of good things, but she was very ill. Jason was old enough to know about this, but not you. Why else would I choose to teach you how to hunt and survive, and not your brother?"

"What makes you think I'll believe anything you say?"

"Ask Lizzy. She knew about it too."


	19. Any Day Now

It had been almost a week since Raven had left the picnic, unable to cope with the new information given to by her father, as well as her own actions with the King. How could she be so stupid? Kissing the King was like messing with the Devil himself. Ever since that day, she avoided the King like the plague. Raven was ashamed of herself for letting her father's appearance catch her off guard like that. So what could she do except go off on some new adventures outside of Freeside? She had heard about a caravan opportunity somewhere to the north, so she and Boone both headed up that way. Upon getting there, however, not only did she learn that she would have to leave her loyal companion behind, Raven would have to lighten her own load and carry very little with her. So, with that, she handed most of her things except a few essentials to her sniper friend.

"Boone, relax. I'll only be gone awhile." Raven sighed as she tightened the laces on one of her boots.

"And what exactly do you want me to tell people? They will want to know. Especially the King."

"Ah, well...uh..." she paused, unsure as what to say. "...Just...say that I'm away on business." Which is what she was doing...right?

After saying their goodbyes, Boone watched her head off. She waved one last time before he turned and started lugging himself toward Freeside. Why, oh why, was he always getting himself mixed up in the middle when it came to her? Perhaps, in a way, Raven saved Boone's life. And maybe, just maybe, he was thankful for giving him a new purpose in life. At least besides killing Legionnaires. He'd had someone to protect up until now. Watching her go made Boone very uneasy.

The King was very anxious. He tried to keep himself preoccupied with other things, but he just couldn't focus. He scratched behind Rex's ear for comfort, and his dog barked a few times. Rex rested his head on the King's leg, as if to reassure him. The King smiled at Rex, but the King's grin faded when he saw Boone walk through the theater door – without Raven. This worried him. But, keeping his outwardly appearance composed, he motioned for Boone to sit down with him. Boone did so, if reluctantly.

"So, nice place you have here, Mr. King..." said Boone. He wasn't one for small talk.

"Thanks. Would you care for a drink?" asked the King.

"No, that's ok. I just came by to tell you about Raven."

The King couldn't help himself. He leaned in a bit with a smirk, "Is that so? Well, what is the little vixen up to?"

Boone sighed. "Well, she had to leave for awhile. On business."

"On business? Where?"

"Somewhere up north. Utah, I think. Something about a caravan shipment or something."

"Since when did she become a caravan expert?"

"She's not," Boone said. "But I guess the caps were more than she could ignore."

The King sighed. "I see. Well, I could have given you guys the caps if you had needed them."

Boone held his hand up. "She and I both prefer to earn what we make. We don't like handouts."

The King coughed. "Any idea how long she'll be gone? I have more work for her to do," he said, waving a hand up as if to imply her absence was only that of a setback based on business.

"Well, I heard the trip itself will take about two weeks...so maybe a month?" Boone estimated.

"A month? Freeside could start burning in hell in a month. Freeside needs her here!" The King exclaimed.

Boone smashed a hand down on the table. "Listen here, pal. She may have helped you and Freeside out a lot, but she's not some errand girl who does everyone's biding just because they ask her to. Freeside is not the only place that's going to hell in a hand basket." Boone growled. "And besides, it's your fault that she left."

"My fault?" the King gasped. "How is it my fault?"

"Oh, nevermind. Just forget I said anything."

"No, Boone. Why is it my fault?"

Boone sighed, shaking his head. "All I know is that whatever happened between you and Raven at the picnic that day is the reason...well, one of the big reasons why she went away."

_2 weeks later..._

Raven wiped her brow and hid behind a rock as the screams continued. Upon arriving in Utah, the group she traveled with got attacked by some unknown enemy. Raven reloaded her cowboy repeater, then took quick aim toward the mountain ledge to her left. One shot, and a very pale man with very little clothing fell down the cliff and hit the ground with a bone cracking thud. She hid behind the rock again and breathed heavily as the sun beat down on her skin, making it sweat like rain. Raven stared down at the blood seeping through her leather armor and she cursed herself for being careless. Hopefully, the bullet hadn't hit a major organ. The blood curdling yelp and the sound of bone spraying apart from a shot to the head caught her attention. The leader of the caravan had fallen dead to the ground. Quickly, Raven aimed her repeater toward some trees ahead. In a matter of seconds, she hit her target and he went down. Another attacker showed up near those trees and took a shot at her. Raven backed away, but not in time to avoid the hit to the shoulder. Raven bit down on her lip to prevent herself from yelling, but now she was pissed off. Another aim to the attacker, another trigger pull, and bam. The last of the barbarians fell to the ground.

Raven slowly holstered her gun and stood up carefully, clutching her stomach to put pressure on the wound. She stared around at her slain companions and shook her head. Again, she was the last one standing. After collecting a few items from their dead bodies, Raven carefully examined the map of the area she was given. There was no chance in hell that she could make it back to Nevada in her current condition. She needed help, and fast. Slowly, she began limping toward the open road in desperation. As she walked, blood stains littered the ground behind her. Minutes upon minutes seemed like hours to her as she kept her slow pace, and before long she saw a horrible sight. A...beast of some sort. It looked a lot like a bear, but mutated. It saw her and began running toward her. Quickly she grabbed her repeater and began shooting, but the beast was not slowing down. Just before it reached her, though, a battle axe came out of nowhere and embedded itself into the beasts' head. It roared in defeat and agony before collapsing to the ground. Soon, it was motionless. Raven fell to her knees and sighed. She had no more energy or will to fight what came next. She collapsed to the ground and her vision blurred and darkened, but not before the silhouette of a man stood before her, reaching out to her...


	20. Forget Me Never

Blurry vision was all that Raven could see as she started waking from her slumber. She grunted in agony from the pain she felt in her stomach and shoulder, but she forced herself to sit up. As she did, Raven noticed she was in a dark cave with the only exception of light being from a fire. By the fire was the silhouette of a bandaged man. Before Raven could utter a word, the man began to speak.

"We should have given you a better welcome on your first visit to Zion, but from I hear, the White Legs beat us to it."

Raven shook her head in confusion. _"Zion? White Legs? What? Where am I?"_ she thought.

"I don't know if you were close to the other members of your group," continued the man, "but you have my sympathy. I pray for the safety of all the good people who come to Zion, even Gentiles, but we can't expect God to do all the work."

Raven took a moment before nodding to him and ran a hand to her forehead. She had the worst headache in the world right now. The throbbing was incredibly painful. "I came here with the Happy Trails Caravan Company to make contact with the New Canaanites."

"Happy Trails. I remember." replied the man. "They were good friends. I have bad news for your employers. New Canaan was destroyed, its citizens scattered. All because of the White Legs. And Caesar, of course. The White Legs want to join the Legion. Caesar's right of passage is the destruction of the New Canaanites, almost assuredly because of me. The good news is that we can help you find your way back. Daniel, one of the other New Canaanites, has made many maps of the region."

Raven sighed. "And there is bad news, I take it?"

The bandaged man seemed to make a chuckling noise. "Isn't there always? The bad news is that we can't help you right now. Not with everything that's going on."

"Ok? What exactly is going on?" she asked. The man began telling her of the war, of Zion, of the other tribes, and of many other things. Raven listened to every word he spoke, making memory of each sentence said from the man's mouth. The more she heard, the more she felt pity for the man. And when the man was done, she only had one thing to say. "I'm not going to leave without offering to help. What can I do?"

It had been nearly 3 weeks since Raven had arrived in Zion, and she had done so many errands for these people in that amount of time. In truth, she hated being here away from Freeside. Out of all the places she had been, Freeside felt like the most home. Maybe it was because of the atmosphere, or maybe it was because of a certain dark haired man with a robotic dog. Each night she spent in Zion, her dreams consisted of that certain man with the cool, gray eyes and the slicked back hair. Raven hated it. She was well aware that she now had a crush on the man, and she absolutely hated having that revelation. So the courier chose to ignore it. Bury it down deep inside her heart. She didn't need any distractions from her true goal.

As she kept wandering through Zion, she noticed a building off one of the cliffs. Strange, since it had been marked as taboo but it hadn't appeared on any of the maps that Daniel or anyone had given her. So, of course, she decided to go scope it out. She approached the rotted door and pushed it open, watching it crumble as it hit the floor. It was an old souvenir shop, from the looks of it. No, more like a...she wasn't sure what it was. But the stuff inside was unmistakable.

"Oh, you have got to be fuckin' kidding me." said Raven.


	21. I Miss You

_Almost 2 months later..._

The King was sitting on his bed, trying not to think about his current woes. The NCR was still crawling into Freeside like nobody's business, and there was a certain dark-haired woman missing for about 6 weeks now. It was driving him nuts. The King did not like the fact that she ran off on "business" somewhere, especially without telling him first. Not that he needed to know her every move, but he considered Raven Wagner a friend. Perhaps even more than a friend. He wasn't sure, and he was not quite ready to admit anything other than friendship had bloomed between the pair. Although, the King couldn't exactly deny his attraction to the woman, either. He missed those green eyes of hers, and the way her lips frowned when she was upset. He spent a lot of time looking through the letters Raven sent him back when she had Rex up in Jacobstown, and he couldn't help but laugh on the memory of it. Sometimes the woman had the temperament of a Deathclaw, and the King was enamored by that trait. He loved seeing her get mad. In the middle of his musings, one of his underlings came in out of breath.

"King! Miss Wagner was seen just outside of Freeside!" he said.

The King shot up immediately and Rex stood up as well with a bark. "Well, go tell her I'd like to speak with her," he replied calmly.

The man nodded and left, and the King rushed to his mirror to check his appearance. Perfect as usual.

* * *

Raven staggered to the gates of Freeside, out of breath and with dried blood all over her face. The trip back from Utah had been harsh. Very harsh. As the gates of Freeside opened, Raven was stunned to find a few Kings members welcoming her. She smiled and waved weakly to them before walking into the city. Some offered to help carry the bags she had and she gladly accepted.

"This sure is a lot of stuff, " said one of the Kings. "What the heck did you get?"

Raven chuckled as she walked with them. "Oh, just some things I picked up in Utah. You guys are going to love what I got!" It wasn't very long after that Raven and the group found their way to the King's School of Impersonation. When they walked into the door, they were greeted by the King. Raven smiled at him softly and held up a bag. "I've got some surprises for you, Mr. King."

The King walked to her and started checking her over. "Are you ok? You're completely covered in gunk!" he exclaimed.

"Oh I'm fine," Raven replied. "Just had a rough trip back. Don't you guys want to see what I brought?"

A bunch of murmured yeahs and uh huhs were uttered and Raven began opening the bag she had. She pulled out a long, rolled up piece of paper and handed it to the King. The King started pulling it open and his jaw dropped when he saw what it was. It was a poster of the original King, and it even had the man's name on it.

"Oh my, this is...this is amazing. Where did you find this?" the King gasped.

"I was out in Utah and I came across some sort of old shop that had a bunch of this stuff. See there," she pointed toward the man on the poster, "that was when he was performing in a place called Jacksonville, Florida. I figured I had to bring some of this stuff back for you guys because, well, how could I not? That little shop was a treasure trove of the King."

The King ran a finger across the letters that were stamped below the man's form, and he looked at Raven happily. "Miss Wagner, I can't thank you enough. You've done us a great service."

Raven waved her hand at him. "It was nothing. Really. There's more stuff in the bags if you want to go through them."

The King grabbed her bag and started rummaging through it. She had brought back little bobble head Kings, lunch boxes with the King on them, necklaces, a few King suits, and a bunch of other little knick knacks that had the King's name all over them. The other group members started going through the other bags and found more posters, as well as a few old film trays. Raven yawned a little and watched as Pacer came walking in. Pacer stopped and looked at all the stuff from the bags.

"What in the hell is all this stuff?" he asked.

"Miss Wagner was kind enough to bring back all this stuff from her trip to Utah. Wasn't that nice of her, Pace?" the King asked.

Pacer bent down and grabbed a bobble head, then smirked. "Sure was." Pacer looked at Raven and chuckled. "How convenient."

Raven raised a brow at him before turning to the King. "Oh, and I found some old films of the man himself. Apparently he was in some movies back in the day."

The King smiled and before Raven could react, he wrapped his arms around her. Raven's eyes got wide and she returned the hug. "Miss Wagner, you are a real saint." The King released her and looked at Raven with proud eyes. "Tell you what? You're going to go upstairs and take a nice, long shower. Then you're going to slip into something real nice."

Raven gulped. "Uh, say what now?"

The King laughed. "I won't take no for an answer. I'm not one to comment negatively on a lady's aroma but...this particular smell you have on you does not suit you at all, Miss Wagner."

Raven's eyebrows lifted before she began laughing. "Ok, Ok. I know. I smell bad. Alright, I'll go take a shower."

The King smiled at her. "Just use mine. I also have some shampoo and conditioner you can use. And I'll have something nice to wear brought up to you, ok?"

Raven nodded and turned towards the inner door to the hallway. "I'm not going to like this, but ok Mr. King."

As the courier disappeared to the hallway, the King turned to his gang and spoke loudly. "Alright. Tonight we're going to have a party to honor Miss Wagner for what she's done. It'll also be a "welcome home" kind of thing, too. So let's get this stuff put away and let's get started on making arrangements for this party!"


	22. Don't Leave Me Now

The water felt so good on Raven's skin as it fell from the shower head onto her, and she didn't care how long she had been in that shower. She was savoring each droplet that hit her. Raven ran her fingers through her hair and she doused her face with the water, and a soft moan came out of her lips. To have all that blood, muck and grime washed off was heaven to her. The courier leaned her head back and smiled a little, feeling the water slide down her neck and to her chest. It was at that moment when Raven heard the bathroom door open. She yelped and shut the water off immediately before reaching for her towel. She wrapped it around her naked form just as the shower curtain was drawn open. Raven's eyes widened when she saw Pacer standing there. She was speechless at first, but then she narrowed her eyes and regained her composure.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she asked. "You don't just go barging in on someone while they're taking a shower!"

"That's not important right now, " replied Pacer. "I need to know something."

Raven ran a hand down her face and shook her head. "Can't it wait?"

"No."

"Alright, fine. What is it?"

"Are you in love with the King?"

Raven blinked a few times in shock. "Excuse me, what?"

Pacer slammed his hand on the wall of the bathroom. "I said are you in love with the King?"

"What the hell kind of a question is that?" asked Raven. She stepped out of the shower and walked past Pacer. "That's the question that couldn't wait? Seriously? You're an idiot."

Pacer turned and grabbed Raven by the arm, then pinned her against the bathroom door. Raven clutched to her towel, feeling slightly vulnerable at this point. "I'm not an idiot, Raven. I see the way you look at him. And this whole...thing you did in Utah, bringing that memorabilia here...that is not something that you do out of the goodness of your heart."

Raven grunted. "Why is everything I do viewed as a threat, Pacer?"

"Because you're a woman," replied Pacer. "The King has a soft spot for women. Especially nice, beautiful women. But you take the cake, missy. You're about as virtuous and attractive as they come and I don't want the King getting distracted from the important shit."

Raven smirked. "Me? A distraction?" she said. "I don't think you give your leader enough credit. He knows how to be professional, though I can't say the same for his right hand man."

Pacer leaned in, narrowing his eyes at her. "I don't like you."

Raven rolled her eyes and pushed past him. "Well, shit. Guess my whole day is ruined now because you don't like me." Raven turned back to him and feigned a saddened look. "Perhaps even my whole life!"

"This isn't a joke, lady."

"Never said it was. Now if you're done berating me with meaningless questions, would you mind getting out of here so I can get ready for...whatever it is I'm supposed to get ready for?"

Pacer crossed his arms. "You still didn't answer the question."

Raven shook her head. "The answer is none of your damn business."

"The King is my business. I watch his back and make sure he doesn't get mixed up in bad company."

"Oh, bad company like the NCR when they sent that envoy?"

"Yes."

Raven grumbled. "So your answer to that was to undermine the King's authority and make the judgment yourself?"

Pacer blinked a few times. "That's not...that's not what I did."

Raven walked up to Pacer and glared at him. "That's exactly what you did, Pacer, and you know it."

The King's friend didn't speak. He just stared at her for a few moments before walking out of the room. He slammed the door shut and Raven out a hand to her face. Her head shook side to side before she let out a loud grunt and went back to the bathroom. Just as she did so, the bedroom door opened. Raven turned abruptly to see the King was the one coming in. Her cheeks instantly flushed when she saw him because she was in nothing but a towel. The King didn't say anything to her. He just stood there, watching her. There was an awkward silence in the room, so silent you could hear a pin drop on the floor. The two stared at each other for a few minutes before the King finally spoke.

"We need to have a talk, Miss Wagner."

"Yes," said Raven. "I suppose we do. What would you like to talk about?"

The King advanced towards her and she didn't move even when the King was only inches from her. "You left without telling me," he said.

"Yeah, I know, " she replied. "I'm sorry about that. Didn't Boone tell you I left?"

"Yes he did, but I'd rather have heard it from you."

"I just needed some time away, Mr. King. After that whole thing at the picnic, I just had to get away for a while."

The King placed his hands on the courier's shoulders and looked into her eyes. "You could have written me."

Raven shook her head. "Getting to Utah from the northern passage took two weeks. Besides, the only people that were going to Utah were the caravan I was with and myself. The people in Utah were only tribesmen, really. Not stupid, but...more like underdeveloped. I couldn't, in good conscience, send one of them here with a letter for you. I mean, c'mon...it's Freeside, for crying out loud. They wouldn't have lasted five minutes."

"I suppose you're right," said the King. "I was worried about you, though. I was afraid you weren't going to come back."

Raven grinned. "I'm a rolling stone, Mr. King. I never stay in one place for too long."

"So you don't plan on staying here in Freeside for good?"

"No. I've got other things to do, you know," replied Raven. "There's a particular man that I need to see in New Vegas, but that won't be for a while. This is my last stop before New Vegas."

"Well, what's stopping you?" asked the King.

"Shortage of caps," she said. "Gotta earn my keep in order to get passed those damn Securitrons at the gate."

The King laughed and said, "Well, I could get you into New Vegas, but that would require you calling in that favor I owe you."

Raven thought for a moment before answering. "Wait, I thought I already called in that favor? Where you thought it was a date?"

"It was a date, but that day at the picnic was not considered one. No, I'm going to take you out on a _real_ date. And besides..." the King leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I don't consider it a favor. I consider it a privilege."


	23. I'll Remember You

It was now night time in Freeside, and the King's party was all set up. The stage room no longer had the tables or the chairs. It was going to be used as a dance floor. The stage was set up with a few microphones and a drum set. The lobby was all set up with a new supply of booze to give to the guests, and some of the king's members had brought a date with them. Both rooms were filled with Kings in their best suits and their partners dressed in what could be considered the finest of Freeside. The King was dressed in his best suit. It wasn't even part of the usual King attire. It was a black suit. The King wanted to look presentable and he wanted to stand out. He was sitting at the bar, waiting for the guest of honor to come down. She'd been up there for quite some time now. He was beginning to wonder if she was going to come down at all. Maybe the dress he got for Raven to wear wasn't fitting right. He was about to go upstairs to check on her when a man and a woman approached him.

"King, sir, you remember my wife Helen, don't you?"

The King looked to her and smiled. "Why yes, James, I do. It's a pleasure to see you again, Mrs. Kelby." He took her hand and kissed it gently.

"Oh, Mr. King. Haha, " said Helen as she looked around. "I absolutely love what you've done with the place, Mr. King. But I dare say, I don't even know what the special occasion is."

The King smirked and leaned against the bar a bit. "It's to honor a friend who just came back from Utah with some King memorabilia. She had a long trek and I want to show her our appreciation for the gifts."

"From Utah?" asked Helen. "Oh my goodness. For a woman to travel that far...oh my, I couldn't even think of doing that."

"Yes, Miss Wagner is a very resilient woman," said the King. "I'm proud to call her a close friend to The Kings."

James then asked, "And where is this resilient young woman?"

The King shook his head. "I do believe she is upstairs getting dressed, although I will admit it is taking her a long time."

James laughed. "Oh, woman always take their time in order to look pretty. It may drive us men nuts, but seeing the results is worth the wait. Isn't that right, darlin'?"

Helen giggled. "Of course, James. You men honestly don't know what us women have to go through in order to look beautiful."

"But I do wonder, Mr. King, " mused James. "Who's the lucky man that Miss Wagner is supposed to look beautiful for?"

The King eyeballed James a little. "She doesn't need a date to look beautiful."

Helen smiled warmly. "Well, there are a lot of single men here in your gang, Mr. King. I'm sure she'll manage to catch herself a beau."

" _Not if I can help it..."_ The King thought to himself. "Well, now that you mention it, I re-"

The King suddenly stopped talking as he looked to the doorway that led to the hallway. There stood Raven in the door frame. Helen and James looked in the direction after a few moments.

"Well, I'll be," remarked Helen. "She certainly is stunning. Is that Miss Wagner?"

"I believe so, Helen," James replied. "She really cleans up nice, doesn't she?"

The King picked out a rich black tafetta cocktail dress for her, with a fitted bodice and a peach colored acetate line laced edge. It had double laced shoulder straps, and had a full rustling skirt that stopped just above her knees. Raven wore black high heels with the dress. Her black hair was not up in it's usual welder's bun, but was let all the way down to her lower back. He hadn't realized her hair was so long. Raven just looked...so different than her usual leather armor attire. After a few more moments of staring, the King spoke again.

"James, Helen. Would you please excuse me for a moment?" said the King before making his way over to Raven. The girl spotted the King and smiled sheepishly at him. They approached each other and the King grinned. "Miss Wagner," was all he could say.

The King watched her cheeks blush. "I'm sorry that I took so long. I...I didn't have the courage to come down here in this at first." Her head lowered and her gaze went to the floor.

The King beamed. Was she being shy? He lifted her chin with a finger and looked at her face. Raven averted her eyes away from the King. "Look at me."

Her green eyes went to his gray eyes and she said, "Do I look...presentable?"

"Miss Wagner, you look beautiful." Raven's cheeks flushed red again, and the King put her hand into his. "Now that you're here, we can start this shindig."

The King pulled Raven away from the door frame and into the lobby. He announced to the guests that Miss Wagner was finally here and that the party could really get started now. A few whistles and cheers were heard, and the King wrapped his arm into Raven's. He led her towards the stage room and he heard her gasp. He turned to her, concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm just not good with crowds."

The King motioned to the band to start playing, and they did as they were told. An upbeat song began to fill the room and a few couples started to dance on the dance floor. The King took her hand and grinned devilishly at Raven. "Then distract yourself. Dance with me."

"Oh god, no. I'm...I don't dance, Mr. King."

"I'm not asking, Miss Wagner," said the King. "I'm telling you."

Before Raven could protest further, the King pulled her body into his and he led her into a dance. The band began to sing the words to the song as they danced.

_The warden threw a party in the county jail_

_The prison band was there and they began to wail_

_The band was jumping and the joint began to swing_

_You should've heard those knocked out jailbirds sing_

_Let's rock, everybody, let's rock_

_Everybody in the whole cell block_

_Was dancin' to the jailhouse rock_

The King spun Raven a couple times and she laughed when he grabbed her hips. His hands went to hers and he twirled himself around, then the courier did the same. The music coursed through their veins and the King watched as everyone started joining in on the dancing. He let go of Raven and began to back up a little, and Raven followed suit. As the music continued on and the pair kept on dancing, the King was unaware of a certain man glaring at both him and Raven Wagner as they danced.

* * *

The party was slowly, but surely, coming to a close as the crowd began to thin out. The sun was going to be up soon. Raven and the King were in the lobby having drinks and laughing. They were both highly inebriated.

"So, so..." the King paused. "So...what did you do when the Deathclaw saw you?"

Raven stood up proudly and raised her half empty glass. "What else could I have done? I shot that fucker dead!"

The King barked with laughter. "With what? A missile launcher?"

Raven sat back down and shook her head, giggling the whole time. "No. You wouldn't believe me if I told you, Mr. King."

The King leaned in and grinned at her with a flush to his cheeks from the alcohol. "Try me."

Raven eyeballed to the side then smirked and leaned in closer as well. "A 10mm pistol."

"You're kidding."

"Nu uh. I swear it's the truth."

"How the hell did you manage to take down a Deathclaw with just a pistol, Miss Wagner?" asked the King.

"Well for one thing, the Deathclaw was blind," Raven explained. "So it's not that impressive, but I just ran around a lot and shot at it, little by little. And eventually, the monster was down for the count."

"Jesus. That sounds impressive enough to me."

"Course it does. Everything I do is damn impressive."

The King laughed again. "I do admit that the things you do shock me to hell, sometimes."

Raven put her elbow up on the bar and rested her face into her palm. "So, got any battle stories of your own to share?"

"I do, but first..." the King said as he heard a song coming on. "Come with me."

Raven did as she was told and followed the King into the stage room. The music got louder and it was a slow song. Raven stopped in her tracks and shook her head. "Oh god, another dance?"

"C'mon," replied the King. "One more dance isn't going to kill you."

The woman sighed and the King grasped her hand. He placed the other hand on her hip as Raven put her free hand on his shoulder. Slowly they began to sway together.

_I'll remember you_

_Long after this endless summer has gone_

_I'll be lonely, oh so lonely_

_Living only to remember you_

"You know, Miss Wagner," the King began. "I've got to say that you're a terrific dancer."

Raven blushed and chuckled. "Yes, well, I've picked up stuff here and there, I guess."

_I'll remember too_

_Your voice as soft as the warm summer breeze_

_Your sweet laughter, mornings after_

_Even after, I'll remember you_

Raven coughed. "That day at the picnic...when I...kissed you...I'm sorry for that. I was a bit out of sorts that day."

The King shook his head. "No need for apologies. I rather enjoyed it."

"You did?"

"Yes," said the King. He leaned in closer and whispered into her ear, "and I'd enjoy the next kiss, too."

_To your arms someday I will return to stay_

_Till then I will remember you_

_Every bright star we made wishes upon_

_Love me always, promise always_

_Ooooh, you'll remember too_

The King made a small peck on her cheek before pulling his head back to look at her. Raven returned the gaze and something passed between them. It was a moment where their eyes were locked in on each other, and in all his boldness, the King lessened the space in between to hold her closer in his arms. His lips grazed hers softly, and Raven shut her eyes as she returned the kiss.

_I'll remember you_


	24. Welcome To My World

The sun was shining through the window when Raven slowly began to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and she grumbled with irritability from the sun shining in her face. Slowly, Raven sat up in the bed and yawned. She held her head in her hands trying to remember the events of last night. It only took her a few moments to realize that she was not alone in the bed. In fact, the courier was not even in her hotel bed. The velvet cloth covering her naked form was a sign of that. Her head turned and she saw the King laying on his side in the bed. Rex was laying in the floor, dead asleep to the world.

" _Oh shit..."_ she thought to herself. _"Did the King and I really...oh shit!"_

* * *

_The couple stumbled along the stairs, laughing at each other. The King was holding onto Raven, making sure she wouldn't fall down. Raven giggled and finally they took their last step up the stairs together._

" _Mr. King, I do believe you are drunk."_

" _Yes, and I do believe you are too, Miss Wagner."_

_The duo walked through the halls trying to find the King's bedroom. When they got to the door, raven lazily laid her hand on the door knocb and turned it. She pushed the door open with her free hand and helped the King inside slowly. Raven got a whiff of the King's cologne and she shuddered. God damn, he smelled so good. The woman guided the King of Kings to his bed and settled him down gently. Without resisting, though, Raven allowed the King to pull her to him and they laid on the bed together. They both laughed._

" _Miss Wagner, I have a proposition for you." said the King._

" _Oh?" she replied. "Do tell, Mr. King."_

" _Well, two things. One, I'm going to start calling you Raven from now on. I think we've passed the point of formality, don't you agree?"_

_Raven nuzzled her head into his neck, again catching the smell of his cologne. "I agree, King," she said softly._

" _Ok. And two..." he lifted Raven's head up and kissed her gently on the mouth. "Stay with me tonight?"_

_The girl returned his kiss. "Yes."_

* * *

Raven did her best to be as stealthy as possible as she started putting on her clothes. As she began to slide on her leather garments, she felt the bed move underneath her. Raven froze when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced behind her to see the King staring at her. Her gaze went to the bed instead of his eyes. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye at that moment. She felt ashamed of herself for her actions. Both of them had been so drunk the night before, and she knew last night couldn't have meant anything to the King. Plus, she didn't want to be another one of his groupies. Raven wanted the King, that much was certain now. In fact, the troubled woman could go as far to say that she was falling in love with the King. That was definitely a possibility.

"Raven, look at me." Her eyes didn't move and she swallowed hard. The King sat up and scooted towards her. He placed a hand to her cheek and forced her to look at him. "Leaving so soon?"

"I, uh..." she stuttered. "I didn't think...I mean...I have a lot of stuff to do. Um, and...I didn't think you wanted to...I don't know...have me here in the morning?"

The King looked disappointed. "Now listen here, missy. You get back in this bed right now, because leaving me in the morning is a big no-no. Understand?"

"O-ok."

The King slid a finger down her neck and leaned in, kissing her neck. "Put down your clothes."

Raven did exactly as she was told, and she breathed in gently at the feeling of his lips on her neck.

* * *

The King wasn't sure why he wanted Raven to stay, but he didn't seem to care at the moment. He watched the woman get dressed at the end of the bed and smiled as he stared at Raven's butt. The King's eyes drifted down her creamy white legs and his breath hitched. Raven turned herself slightly and smirked at the King.

"Like what you see?"

"Very."

Raven laughed and pulled up her leather pants. The King just laid in the bed watching her and when she was finished, the courier crawled back into the bed and kissed the King gently on the mouth.

"I have jobs to do so I might be a bit too busy for the next few days to come see you, but I promise to see you when I'm done. Is that alright with you?"

"What kind of jobs?" the King asked.

"Oh, just some things here and there. Just trying to help people out, you know?"

The King smiled and ran his hand through her thick black hair. "Raven, you really have a lot of heart."

Raven blushed. "Yeah, well...yeah." she coughed and got off the bed, then sgtarted putting her hair in a wendy welder's bun. "Anyway, I gotta run."

"Alright," said the King. "I'll see you later."

Raven smiled down at Rex and patted him on the head. "See you later too, Rex." The dog barked at her and she grinned before leaving.

The King watched her leave and sighed before getting himself dressed as well.

* * *

It had taken her awhile but she finally did it. She somehow managed to get enough caps to pass the security checkpoint into the New Vegas Strip. The doors opened and she took a deep breath as she walked through them. Raven turned to Boone as they walked and she laughed.

"Have you ever seen anything so damn cool in your life, Boone?"

"I've been to the Strip before, Raven."

Raven sighed and turned back around. Just as she did, Raven saw a familiar robot heading her way. It was Victor, the robot who dug her up from the grave back in Goodsprings.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. Victor!" she waved him down.

"Howdy, pardner. You've come a fair piece, haven't you? Welcome to New Vegas!"

"This place looks amazing, Victor! Where do I start?" Raven laughed.

"Raven, are you feeling alright?" asked Boone.

"Of course I am," said Raven. "I feel great!"

Boone took a good look at her, then realization dawned on him. "Oh geez. You had sex with the King, didn't you?"

Raven shushed him. "Keep it down, Boone."

Victor, looking unphased at this new information, started talking again. "The place to get started is the Lucky 38. See that big ol' tower shaped like a roulette spinner? That's where you'll find Mr. House, New Vegas' head honcho. And he's itching to make your acquaintance."

Raven mulled this over in her brain a bit before responding. "All right. I'll go there straight off."

"Yeehaw, pardner. That's the spirit. He'll be waiting for you."

Boone and Raven made their way over to the 38, but Raven was told to go up alone. She asked Boone to wait for her and he nodded, and then she went into the Lucky 38 alone. She walked into the casino and shook her head in astonishment. She'd never seen such a place. Raven walked to the elevator and asked Victor to take her up to the Penthouse. She got into the elevator and waited. Soon the doors opened and Raven found herself in an unbelievable room. There was a female Securitron in front of her and she quirked a brow. She exited to the left and saw a computer with a man's face on it. Raven went down the stairs and stood in front of this computer with a confused look.

"Um, hello?" she asked.

"This meeting has been a long time coming, hasn't it?" a voice said. "You've come a long ways, literally and, I suspect, figuratively as well. I have to ask – now that you've reached your destination, what do you make of what you see?"

Raven just stared at the computer screen. "I've never seen anything like this place. Not at all."


	25. Scratch My Back

Raven walked into the Presidential Suite of the Lucky 38 hotel with Boone tailing it behind her. With a giggle, she ran straight toward the bedroom and jumped onto the bed and began to bounce on it.

"Isn't this great, Boone? No more sleeping outside on the ground!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah," was the only response she got.

Raven sighed and fell onto her back on the bed and shut her eyes. "Not very excited, are you? This is the mother fuckin' Presidential Suite, man!"

"It's nice, but explain to me how you got this again?"

Raven sat up and looked at Boone, who was now sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her. "The head honcho, Mr. House, asked me to do a job for him. I agreed and now this is one of the benefits of being in his service."

"I don't like it," said Boone. "It seems suspicious to me."

"Of course it's suspicious!" she replied. "But for once in my life, I'd like to enjoy having something spectacular." Raven got off the bed. "I'm going to do some exploring in here." Raven disappeared out of the bedroom.

Boone sat there for a few moments before he heard a scream. He jumped up and ran out of the bedroom. He heard his name being called hysterically and he ran in the direction of her voice. He ended up going to the bathroom. He looked at her in panic. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Raven beamed at him and jumped up and down. "They have...a BATHTUB! WITH A SHOWER HEAD!"

Boone growled at her. "Don't ever do that again! You scared the shit out of me!"

Raven laughed and hugged him. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little too excited."

"A little? You call screaming at the top of your lungs over a bathtub 'a little'?"

Raven rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine. I'll explore while you're not here, ok? I don't know about you, in the mean time, but I'm going to go see the rest of New Vegas. Care to come with?"

"No, that's ok. I've got some people to see anyway."

She shrugged and made her way to the elevator. She got in and asked Victor to send her down to the casino floor. The doors shut just as she waved goodbye to Boone. After a minute or so, the doors reopened to the casino floor. Raven grinned and paced out of the elevator toward the front door of the casino. Once she got outside, a man dressed in NCR armor walked up to her. Before she could even say anything, he handed her a note and walked away. Raven shook her head and opened the letter. As she began reading it, her eyes narrowed. Apparently some NCR ambassador wanted to speak with her. Curiosity was a dangerous thing with her, and she wanted to know what this was about. So, she made her way down the steps of the Lucky 38 and marched straight down the street.

As she walked, her eyes drifted toward the neon lights of the city. The clash of light against the night sky was...brilliant. Beautiful. Raven had never seen anything like it. As she passed by the Tops casino, her heart raced. She knew the guy who shot her, Benny, was in there somewhere. But now was not the time to get him...yet. She had more business to attend to. After a few more minutes of walking, Raven finally found her way to the NCR Embassy. She entered the building and looked inside. All she found were a few doors, a desk with a woman behind it, and a few cabinets. Raven coughed and walked up to the desk.

The woman behind it looked up at Raven and smiled. "Welcome to the NCR Embassy. How can I help you?"

"Yeah, uh...I'm looking for the Ambassador."

"Ambassador Crocker can be found in his office through the door to my right at the end of the hall."

"Ok, thank you." Raven said before walking toward the right door.

Going through a hallway with red carpeting, Raven made her way to one of the rooms in the hallway. She poked her head in and saw a middle aged balding man behind a desk. Raven knocked a few times on the door and the man leaned to the side to see her.

"Yes, can I help you?" He said.

"Yeah. I got a note from Ambassador Crocker telling me to come in?"

"Oh yes. That's me. Please, come sit."

Raven did as she was told and plopped her bottom onto the chair on the opposite side of the Ambassador. "So, I guess you know who I am then?"

Ambassador Crocker nodded his head. "Yes. I had something important to discuss with you."

" _People always want to "discuss important things" with me,"_ thought Raven. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in the chair. "I'm listening."

"I'm sure you've noticed that things are a little tense around here with all the issues between the NCR, the Legion, and Mr. House. It doesn't take a genius to see that something big is going to happen soon. To be honest with you, the NCR is in a tight spot. But...if we fail now, it's the people here that are going to suffer the most. I'm not willing to let that happen, and I don't think you're the kind of person that would either."

When the Ambassador paused, Raven nodded to him. "You have my attention. Please, go on."

Crocker coughed. "To the northeast is a settlement. The locals here call them 'Boomers'. They are sitting on a munitions stockpile that would be invaluable to us. I'd like you to get in contact with them, and then do whatever it takes to convince them to help us. Unfortunately, the Boomers keep to themselves and are, let's say, hostile to all outsiders. That is why I need someone like you. Someone with your background and reputation would have a better chance of reaching them than anyone I have available. In exchange for your help, you would receive complete amnesty for any past crimes against the NCR, as well as additional benefits and perks. Do you think you would be able to do this for me?"

Raven raised an eyebrow. _"Is there something about me that says, 'I eat danger for breakfast'?"_ After a few moments, she sighed. "I'll find them and talk to them."

"Much appreciated. Once you've talked to them, let me know what they have to say."

* * *

Raven ran to a crumbling ruin of a house and ducked behind a slightly firm piece of concrete. As she did, the whistling and crashing of bombs around her shook her to the core.

"I'm going to kill that man, I swear to God I will." she muttered under her breath.

Raven covered her head and squealed as a bomb came and hit a little too close for comfort. She hated this. The Ambassador had basically sent the girl to her death. Once she got out of this and finished her job, she was going to beat the crap out of him. Another bomb went off near her and Raven squeaked, although she could barely even hear herself do that. After a few moments, the bombs stopped hitting. In that moment, Raven got up and started running toward another set of crumbling houses. And that's when the whistles were heard again.

* * *

The King fingered the edge of his glass and stared down at it, lost in deep thought. He had a lot on his mind. He was thinking about his new found feelings for the Wagner woman. He hadn't felt like this in a long time. Not since...he pushed the memory from his mind, but it kept nagging at him.

_The King nuzzled his face into the neck the blonde and she giggled. Soft touches and light kisses were made in the bed and their naked bodies pressed against each other. The girl laughed in his ear then whispered sweet nothings into it, and it caused the King to shudder._

The King's thoughts were interrupted by one of his underlings. "King!"

The King sat up straight and almost knocked his glass over. He coughed and turned to the man. "Yeah? What is it?"

"King, the courier...she uh, she was seen going into Boomer territory."

"She what?" The King stood up sharply, this time knocking the glass over. It fell to the ground with a crash.

* * *

Raven wiped the blood from her brow as she crawled her way to another crumbled house. That last bomb had hit pretty close and knocked some rubble down around her. Now she had a concussion, more than likely, as well as a few broken bones. Great. The girl huddled herself into a corner and groaned out in pain. A few more bombs hit around her and she growled in irritation.

"Yeah yeah! I hear ya, you fuckers! You don't like outsiders! Fuckin' assholes!" she yelled. She peeked around the corner and saw how close she was to the fence of the base. "Ok Raven, you're almost there. Just get to the fence and they'll hopefully stop trying to kill you."

The bombs ceased and the courier stood shakily. Raven took a few sharp breaths to get her adrenaline going, and she crept around the corner. It was at that moment that someone shot off another bomb and she decided to make a break for it. Fighting through the pain in her leg, she bolted away from the house in the direction of the metal fence. Doing her best not to limp, Raven bit her lip as she ran. The bomb fell and the blast knocked her off her feet. Instead of reaching the fence gracefully like she had planned, Raven was thrown into it. The girl landed on her back and she felt the wind get knocked out of her.

"Son of a BITCH!" she yelled.

Slowly, she picked herself up off the ground. Raven stared down at her legs and noticed bone poking through the leather of her armor. That really hurt. A lot. But instead of whining about it, Raven began to limp toward the fence gate by scaling the fence itself. As she hobbled, she noticed the bombs had stopped. Thank all the Gods in heaven, they stopped shooting at her. More blood spilled down her forehead and down her cheek as she tried to walk. She hurt everywhere, but not enough to stop trying her best to get to the Boomers. Finally, she reached the gate.

"Hold it right there!" said a man in combat armor. He was on the other side of the fence. "Don't you move!"

Raven froze in place and stared wide eyed at the man. "All right. No need to get bossy with me, pal."

The man ignored her words. "How the hell did you survive the bombardment?"

"Simple enough," she said weakly. "Run, hide, run. It's all in the timing." Raven smirked. _"Not that my timing was the best, but I'm still alive."_ she thought to herself.

"But I had you zeroed in the whole time! Nobody's that fast!" the man scoffed. "Move a muscle now and I'll blow you to pieces!"

"I...didn't come here...to...to attack you," Raven said, barely above a whisper. The pain was really starting to get to her now.

"Then just...just stay where you are! Raquel'll be here any second..."

It was soon after that a woman dressed in combat armor showed up. "I'll take this from here," she said. "I'm Raquel, Master-At-Arms for the Nellis homeland. Mother Pearl, our eldest, wishes to speak with you."

Raven leaned against the fence, her breaths shallow. "What's a Master-At-Arms?"

"I oversee the security of the Nellis homeland, from the coordination of its defenses to the training and fitness of its population."

Raven smirked. "So the fact that we're having this conversation means you failed, right?" Raven knew better than to piss off the people with the big guns, but dammit, they gave her one hell of a hard time in getting to the base. Raven felt like busting their egos a little, even if it meant they would make her pay for it later.

Raquel narrowed her eyes. "I wasn't the one firing the howitzers. If you want to see how good I am at killing savages, I can show you. Or you can accept Mother Pearl's invitation. It's your choice."

Raven sighed. "All right. Lead the way."

"Follow close. And mind your behavior." Raven nodded and the gates began to open. She hobbled and limped her way to Raquel, who seemed to notice the broken leg. "But it looks to me like you need medical attention, first."

"Yeah, probably," said Raven. "You guys certainly gave me a run for my money."


	26. Only the Strong Survive

The King paced back and forth in his bedroom, worry set on his brow. Rex barked a few times at him but the King didn't seem to acknowledge him. Rex whined and nudged his nose into the King's hand, and the King sighed while stroking Rex's neck. The King was definitely worried about Raven with the Boomer situation. He knew exactly what they were capable up, what with blasting bombs at anyone who neared the base. Or at least that is what he'd heard. He knew that if anyone could get into the base, it was Raven, but still...the King needed to know if she was alive or dead. He just had to. He sat down on the bed, head in his hands. This was driving the King nuts. He'd never felt so impatient before. Just then there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," said the King.

A King member opened the door. "King, we figured it out."

The King stood and paced toward the other man. "All right. What's the skinny?"

A few other members walked in and one of them put a map down on the pool table. They opened it up, revealing the entire Mojave Wasteland on paper. "Ok, there's the Nellis base." one of them pointed to an area on the map. "But they have bombers shooting anyone who gets near the front, but I did some scouting around there area. There's an old train track station not too far from the base. I think it can lead us into the base, but I'm not entirely sure. The one problem preventing me from actually trying is that it's inhabited by a bunch of Deathclaws."

The King considered this, placing two fingers on his chin. "Hmm. Is that the only other way in?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then we're going to need some help. You," The King pointed at one dark haired man. "Go find Raven's friend Boone. You two," he pointed at two other men. "Go to Gun Runners and get some supplies. Gather up some of our best men, too. Then meet back here in an hour."

They all nodded and left the room. The King was left to his own thoughts, along with Rex. The King walked toward his closet and opened it. Inside was a suit of metal armor, along with a shotgun and a machete. The King sighed heavily and leaned against the frame of the door. This was going to be one hell of a doozy.

* * *

Raven bit down hard on the piece of wood in her mouth as Doctor Argyll was preparing to set her leg back into place. Her shin had split pretty well, and Raven stared down at the oozing wound. The ivory and red of her bone contrasted highly to her tan skin, and the girl shuddered. It was one thing to see someone else go through such physical trauma, it was an entirely different story when it happened to her own self. The doctor nodded, signaling that he was ready. Raven nodded and shut her eyes tightly. The doctor yanked on her leg a bit and Raven howled. Tears began rolling down her cheeks as the doctor managed to set the bone back in place. Raven began taking deep breaths, wishing her adrenaline had still been going. But alas, it had stopped just before she got to the doctor's place. Raven laid back on the bed, shuddering from the pain. She removed the piece of wood from her mouth and handed it to the doctor.

"T-thank you," was all she could say.

"You're welcome. Now, I'm going to use a stimpak so that the break will heal faster, but you're going to have to stay off that leg for at least a few days until it fully heals."

"Aw shit. Well, I suppose that isn't so bad, but the King is going to worry about me."

Argyll blinked at her. "The King?"

Raven chuckled a little. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You guys don't get out much." Raven sat up and looked at the doctor. "The King is the leader of some gang over in Freeside. It's kind of part of the New Vegas Strip, but not really. It's a slum, really. But the King is a nice guy."

"Uh huh. But why is he going to worry about you?" Argyll arched a brow, then smiled with realization. "Oh, I see. He has a soft spot for you, huh?"

Raven blushed. "Um, well...maybe. I don't know for sure."

Just then, Raquel walked into the place with an elderly woman trailing behind her. "Raven, this is our leader, Mother Pearl."

Raven nodded, and the woman stepped forward. "Welcome, child," said Pearl. "Took your sweet time getting here, didn't you?"

Raven laughed so hard she snorted. She blushed, then coughed. "Well, I just had to enjoy the scenery. Nothing like a bunch of broken down 200 year old houses to make you feel a wave of nostalgia."

"Ha!" Pearl barked. "I like you." Pearl pulled up a chair and sat next to Raven's bed. "I've been waiting a good five years for an outsider to come along and visit!"

"You didn't exactly roll out the red carpet."

Pearl nodded. "These howitzers of ours aren't just for entertainment, child! Explosive ordinance is what keeps the savages at a distance. Except you! There's something special about you, child, and it was the howitzers that gave you a chance to show it."

"Wait, not just for entertainment? You mean you use the howitzers for entertainment as well?"

"Why not? We've got to get our kicks somehow!"

Raven laughed and shook her head. "Oh my God."

"Now, I did invite you here for a reason, child."

"Yes. How might I be of assistance?"

"Oh, so many ways! Small ones to begin with, so we can get used to what it's like to have a sav- uh, outsider around and about. Should that go well, it may be you can help in big ways, too. We'll have to see."

Raven sighed. "How can we trust each other if you're going to be keeping secrets?"

Pearl crossed her arms over her chest. "You have to keep in mind that you;'re our first contact with the outside world since I was barely a woman. Seclusion has kept us safe, but the world around us is changing. Neon lights in the distance, patrolling robots, soldiers... My youngers think our guns can keep out the world, but I think we need to let it in, just a little, or become its victim. You're that little bit of the world, child. Welcome to Nellis."

* * *

The King, Boone, and the King's men crept slowly through the darkness so as not to alert any "wildlife" to their presence. Rex trailed behind them all, panting away like crazy. They'd already taken down a few Deathclaws, but they all knew there were more to be found. Boone lifted the flashlight up and stared down the ray of it into the train tunnel. Nothing. They continued at their slow pace, but the King was growing impatient again. He wanted to be at the base, knocking heads down in order to find the courier. Suddenly a roar was heard, and Rex began to growl. The team stopped in their tracks and the King wet his lips. Something was coming now, for sure.

Boone shut the light off the flashlight and pocketed it. The King's eyes soon adjusted to the darkness in time to feel the breath of a Deathclaw on his face. Instantly the King brought up his shotgun and shot the creature in the face. The monsters howled in agony and stumbled back a little, but then charged forward at the King. The King pulled out his machete and ducked out of the way just in time for the Deathclaw to collide into one of the King's members. Screams echoed down the tunnel as the man was mauled to pieces by the creature, and the King roared angrily as he sliced his machete through the air. The Deathclaw's head clumped to the ground, and its body shortly after.

"Let's keep moving," ordered the King. "The sooner we get to the base, the better."

"I can't believe you're risking your life with a bunch of Deathclaws for the bitch," said Pacer. "She's just a woman."

The King froze, then turned and glared at Pacer. "Mind your mouth, Pacer. She's earned some respect."

"Yeah, she's also earned your bed, too, I take it."

"I mean it, Pace," the King warned. "Knock it off."

"Just like Charlotte." The King suddenly punched Pacer right in the face and Pacer went down to the ground, startled. "Ow! What'd ya do that for?"

The King knelt down in front of Pacer. "I've told you repeatedly to shut the fuck up, Pacer! If I hear one more, just ONE MORE bad thing about Raven from your fucking mouth, I will kick you out of the Kings! Is that clear?"

Pacer grumbled, "Yes, King."

"Good." The King stood up and looked at everyone else. "Let's go."

The King turned in time to see another Deathclaw racing toward them. His anger fueled his reflexes to react quickly, and he charged toward the Deathclaw, machete in hand. He swung his machete and blood splayed across the walls of the tunnel. The King had managed to take off one of the Deathclaw's claws, and the beast screeched in pain. The King quickly holstered the machete, grabbed his shotgun, cocked it, and shot the creature in the head repeatedly until the Deathclaw went down. Boone walked up beside the King, crossing his arms.

"Damn," was all that Boone said.

"Yeah. See, I didn't become the leader of the Kings with only my charms and my looks. I had to fight for it."

Boone motioned toward the wall and the King noticed a door. He walked to it and opened it, noticing a slight stench from inside. He backed up a little.

"How bad is the smell?" asked Boone.

"It's...tolerable."

The rest of the men, including Pacer, as well as Rex, caught up with Boone and the King. The King opened the door again and this time, the stench was a bit more strong. The King held his breath and Boone took out his flashlight. He clicked it on and aimed it into the room. Dozens upon dozens of eggs were spread out through the room. And in the middle of the room was the Bull of the Deathclaw pack. He was way bigger than any normal Deathclaw, and from the looks of it, twice as malicious. The Deathclaw growled at the group.

"Uh, King?" said Pacer.

"Yeah?"

"Now would be a good time to get the fuck out of here, yeah?"

The King swallowed and slowly backed away. "Agreed."

They all turned and ran away from the door down the tunnel. All except Rex, who just growled at the monsters. The King stopped and yelled at Rex to come, but he would not listen. Just then a molerat came out of the room and Rex attacked it. The Bull Deathclaw came staggering out of the room and raised his claw to Rex. Rex looked up and cowered down, still growling at the beast. Thankfully, as the claw came crashing down, Rex moved out of the way and started biting lon the creature's leg. The beast leaned his head back and roared loudly from the bite. Rex, in fear, let go of the leg and started running toward the King. The King blew out a sigh of relief and he started chasing after his men. The Bull Deathclaw began to run after them and he was much faster than the current prey.

"Look! I see a light at the end!" yelled one of the group members.

"Get moving!" yelled another.

The King and Rex increased their pace, running past a few of the King's members. The Deathclaw stomped angrily toward one and clawed him down. The man went down instantly and the Deathclaw started biting into his flesh. The rest of the group bolted down the tunnel, sweat beading on their brows and their chests hurting. Soon the Deathclaw lost interest in the corpse and started chasing after the group again. Closer and closer, the team got to the light. And closer and closer, the Deathclaw got. Soon the men managed to run into the light and outside the tunnel. Not too far off in the distance they saw the Nellis base. The Deathclaw Bull came running out of the tunnel and screeched at the men. They all got their guns and started firing at the Bull, but it didn't seem to affect the creature much. They all started backing away, still firing. Suddenly the King had an idea.

"Hey, any of you got a grenade?" he yelled.

"Here!" one man pulled out a grenade and tossed it to the King. He catch if flawlessly.

The King pulled out his machete. "All right. Hopefully this will work. Keep him distracted!"

The men kept firing at the beast and the King charged toward it. This made the Bull stop in its tracks, as if it was stunned that its prey was coming to it. It resumed its running and the two ran toward each other. Suddenly, as they closed in proximity, the King slid between the Deathclaw's legs and sliced one of the legs with the machete. It only caused a small gash, but it did what the King wanted it to do. The creature roared in pain as the King stood up behind the creature. He jumped onto the beast's back but dropped the machete on the ground. He pulled out his shotgun as the beast flayed about, trying to get him off. The King stuck to the Bull like a fly on shit, and he shot the creature in the back, causing a huge hole in the skin. The beast roared and ran around trying to get the King off, but to no avail. The King took the grenade, yanked the pin out with his teeth, and smashed the grenade into the hole. He then fell off the Deathclaw and started backing up. The Deathclaw turned and started charging toward him, but not before suddenly exploding into a thousand pieces. Some of the pieces got on the King's armor and face, and he grunted in irritation.

"Oh, ew." he said, brushing himself off. The others just started at him, their mouths agape.


	27. Tryin' To Get To You

The men and Raquel stared at the intruders with their bazookas raised. After watching them take down a full grown Bull Deathclaw, they were impressed. However, these outsiders were still savages to them. The cybernetic dog with them was worrisome, as well. Raquel approached the group slowly.

"State your business." said Raquel.

The man in metal armor with the dog at his side took a step forward. "I'm looking for someone. Someone not part of the Boomers."

"No one gets inside Nellis base. We don't allow outsiders."

"We got in," said Pacer.

Raquel raised her gun. "Like I said, we don't allow outsiders."

The outsiders raised their guns as well, and the dog hunched down and growled, ready to pounce on whoever would dare attack his master. Just then, Raquel's walkie talkie started going off.

"Raquel, stand down. Mother Pearl wants to speak to them."

Then, without question, she holstered her gun. "You boys are lucky. Our leader wants to chat with you."

* * *

Raven sighed as she laid in the bed, feeling very antsy. She hated being stuck like this with a broken leg. The pain was still bad, but not as bad as it was yesterday. Still, she wanted to get up and walk around. Unfortunately, the doctor would not give her any crutches. The girl still had other injuries that required at least 24 hours of bed rest. Raven hated it. She was never good at staying still for more than an hour, at most, except when she had to sleep. She was always on the move, always going somewhere. She never stayed in one place for too long. Freeside was the one place where she stayed the longest ever since she was a teenager on her own. Despite her missions and escapades, Freeside was the closest thing to feeling like home to her. Even after spending time in Utah, she returned to Freeside. She was pretty sure it had to do with a certain man with gel-slicked hair.

Raven sat up slowly. She wasn't sure how she felt about the man other than the initial crush. It was now more than that. Was it love? She was unsure. Raven had never been in love before. And what's more, she had no idea how to act around him now that they'd...done the deed. She'd never even had a boyfriend. Woa, wait. Was the King her boyfriend now? The courier ran a hand through her black hair and sighed. She wished for a brush. Her hair was a mess. It wasn't in its usual Wendy the Welder bun. Instead, her hair was quite long and flowed down her back. Raven was also not in her usual attire of leather armor. No, in fact, she was practically naked, save for her bra and underwear. Raven felt vulnerable like this. Now she had to pee. And there was no way she was going to relieve herself in a bed pan. No, Raven wanted to feel like a normal person and sit on a toilet. Raven stared down at the splint on her leg and groaned. This was going to suck.

* * *

Mother Pearl was sitting down when the King and his men walked in with Raquel. Pearl smiled at the group and thanked Raquel for bringing them in. Raquel dismissed herself and walked out the door.

"So," started Pearl. "Which one of you is the leader?"

"I am," said the King.

"Ah, ok. You boys must be hungry after your ordeal." She stood up and walked into her kitchen. "Make yourselves at home while I prepare something."

Pacer and the rest of the men looked around the room and some found a couch to sit on. The King and Rex walked toward the kitchen. "Ma'am, do you need some help?" he asked.

Pearl turned and smiled at the King. "How polite. But no, I'm fine. Please, have a seat somewhere. Take a load off."

The King nodded and walked away. He sat down at the kitchen table and Rex laid down by his feet. After a few minutes, Pearl walked in with a tray of food. She set it on the table and motioned for the boys to dig in. They got off the couch and walked to the table, then grabbed various items off the table and began eating. The King took a piece of gecko meat off the tray and tossed it down to Rex, who ate it gratefully. The King grabbed something for himself and took a bite.

"Ma'am, I do have a question for you, if you don't mind me asking."

Pearl sat down at the table across from him. "Ask away, child."

The King nodded. "I'm looking for someone. A girl. She may have come this way yesterday. Have you seen her? Goes by the name of Raven."

Pearl smiled at the King. "As a matter of fact, we had a visitor yesterday by that name. Barely made it passed our howitzers, but she made it. Raven's resting at the doctor's right now."

The King took a sigh of relief. "I'd like to see her, if that's all right."

"Oh, of course. I'll have Raquel take you. But first, eat something. You look famished, boy."

* * *

Raven grumbled in agitation as she tried to get off the bed. The girl couldn't stand it for any longer. She had to go somewhere. Anywhere. Raven huffed as she sat up with her legs over the side of the bed. She did her best to keep the broken leg straight while her other leg swung lazily over the side. She managed to push herself up slowly, balancing all her weight on her sturdy leg. Everything in her body ached, but she refused to acknowledge the pain. She tried to hobble away from the bed, but it sent a spasm of agony through her broken leg. That was when Doctor Argyll walked in. He saw her and rushed to Raven's side.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, Doc, but I'm going nuts just staying in that bed. There's nothing for me to do except lay there."

Argyll tried to usher her back to the bed. "Maybe I should give you a sedative."

Raven sat back down on the bed slowly as the doctor lifted her legs and placed them gently back onto the bed. "If you think it'll help..."

The doctor nodded and went to his medical supplies to fetch a sedative. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a small glass vial, along with a syringe with a needle. "This should knock you out for a while."

"Ok."

The doctor came back with the syringe filled with the sedative and an alcohol swab. He rubbed the swab on her arm, then checked the needle to make sure it was ok. A small stream of liquid shot out, and he nodded. He poked her vein with the needle and pushed the sedative through the syringe. "Now, you're going to get drowsy real soon, and then you'll fall asleep ok?"

Raven nodded. After a few moments, her eyelids felt heavy. And soon after, she drifted off into a deep sleep.

* * *

The King and Rex walked through the Nellis base toward the doctor's office. Raquel walked ahead of them, directing them to the place. It was a small bunker-type place with a door on it. Raquel knocked on it a few times, and soon it opened to reveal a balding man.

"Ah, Raquel. What can I do for you?" he asked.

"Argyll, this is King and his dog, Rex. They're apparently acquainted with the other outsider."

The doctor eyeballed the visitors, then smiled a little. "Oh, you're the King. Raven told me a little bit about you."

"She did?" asked the King.

"Oh yeah. Said you're the leader of some gang in a place called Freeside. Anyway, I suspect you want to visit with the young lady?"

The King nodded. "I don't want to intrude on you, but I...well..."

The doctor shook his head. "She's sleeping right now, but if you promise to keep yourself and the dog out of my way, you can come in. But I'm telling you, you may not like what you see."

"Yes, I promise."

The doctor opened the door wider, and the King and Rex both walked in. The doctor waved off to Raquel and shut the door. The King looked around the room and saw a few patients lying in their beds. His eyes stopped on Raven's bed and he walked toward it, with Rex in tail. The King grabbed a small chair and placed it next to her bed, then sat down on it. Rex came up and licked Raven's arm a few times, then whined when she didn't stir. The King's eyes were filled with worry. A splint was placed on her right leg. A couple of smaller splints were wrapped around some of her fingers on her right hand, and the King placed a hand on her arm. The doctor walked up beside the King.

"She had a pretty bad break in her leg, but it'll fully heal in a day or two. Just gotta keep using stimpaks on it. Trust me, she looked a lot worse yesterday and I almost thought she wasn't going to make it. But she's tough, and she's going to be just fine." said Argyll.

The King looked up at the man. "Thank you for taking care of her." Rex whined again as he tried to lick Raven's face. "How long has she been asleep?"

"Oh, for a good hour or so. I gave her a sedative so she would stop trying to get out of bed."

The King chuckled then pet Rex on the side of his neck. "It's ok, boy. She's just asleep. She'll wake up soon."

Rex licked the King's hand, then laid down at his feet. The King grabbed Raven's left hand and kissed it gently. The doctor smiled a little and went back to his other patients.

* * *

It had been a few hours since the sedative was given when Raven finally began to wake up. Her eyes blinked open a few times and all she saw was the ceiling. She groaned a little and tried to rub her face, but her hand was holding onto something. Someone elses hand.

"Raven?" a voice said to her.

She turned her head and her vision came into focus. And there was the King, sitting next to her and holding her hand. "Am I...dreaming?" she asked.

The King chuckled. "No, you're not dreaming, sweetheart."

Raven blinked a few times, becoming more awake now. "Wait...how did you...what are you..."

The King leaned forward and kissed her lips. Raven immediately returned the affectionate kiss, tasting his mouth on hers. A small moan escaped her as the kiss deepened. Soon the two parted ways and the King leaned back into his chair.

"Wondering how I got here, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah. How did you get here without being blown to pieces?"

The King laughed and squeezed her hand. "I didn't go the same way you did."

Rex stood up and barked at Raven. Raven smiled at Rex as he put his front paws on the bed, licking her face anxiously. Raven laughed and scratched his neck. "Yes, Rex, I'm just fine. Just a little beat up, that's all." Rex went back down off the bed and sat down next to the King. Raven stared at the King suspiciously. "What do you mean you didn't go the same way I did? As far as I knew, there was only one sure way of getting into the base."

The King shook his head. "There's a train tunnel that leads to the back of the base. A tunnel full of Deathclaws, though. That was one hell of a time getting in here, going through a Deathclaw nest."

Raven's eyes widened. She finally noticed the metal armor that the King was wearing, as well as the machete and shotgun on both sides of his hips. "You...why?"

"When I'd heard you were in Boomer territory, I, ah..." he paused for a moment. "...wanted to know if you'd made it or not."

"You fought your way through a Deathclaw nest just to see if I made it? Are you crazy?"

The King raised a brow. "Hey, you're the one who raced through a bombardment of howitzers to try and get here. Why were you trying to get into the base, anyway?"

"First of all, I didn't know they were going to try and blow me up. I was not told about that particular part. And secondly, well..." she lowered her eyes. "...I was asked to make contact with them."

"By who?"

"...The NCR."

The King stayed quiet for a few moments. "Oh? That's...interesting."

Raven shook her head. "You're not mad, are you?"

He stood up from his chair. "Not mad. I'm furious! Furious that they would send you on such a dangerous...errand when you're only a civilian! And I'm furious that you actually went and did it!" Raven watched the King pace back and forth across the room as he continued his rant. "What the hell made you think you could get to the Boomers? What the hell, Raven? You could have gotten killed!"

"Oh, you're not one to talk! You're the one who willingly went into a Deathclaw's nest just to get here! Deathclaw's are unavoidable once they see you. With the howitzers, they were easy to dodge!"

The King glared at her. "Apparently not, with your damn leg and fingers."

"Ok fine. _Easier_ to dodge."

The King scoffed at her. "I came here because I needed to know if you were alive or dead. I wasn't going to wait another month or so to find that out!"

"Why the hell not?" she asked.

The King turned and faced Raven. "Because I'd rather know if I've lost you to death or otherwise than have to wonder about it for weeks!"

Raven growled and tried to get out of bed. "Oh really?"

"What are you doing?" asked the King.

Raven struggled to get up and finally managed it, using the chair to keep her balance. "I'm getting out of the god damn bed, that's what I'm doing!"

"Raven, get back in that bed. Now."

"I'm going to make my point standing, thank you very much!" Raven stood up straight and narrowed her eyes at the King. "Now, as far as losing me...since when the hell do I belong to you? I'm not one of your groupie girls!"

The King looked shocked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means, King. I need to know what this is between us, ok? I need to know if I'm just...another groupie to you, or something. It was fine, at first, and I didn't really care if I meant much to you...but now I do."

"What are you trying to say?" The King looked confused.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you? I want to be...with you." Raven sighed, lowering her body back onto the bed. She held her head in her hands and bent over, sighing. "I want to be with you, but only if I actually mean something more to you than a damn groupie. Understand?"

The King slowly walked over to the chair and sat down in front of Raven. He then lifted her head with his hands and stared into her eyes. "Would I have come all this way and fought Deathclaws if you weren't so important to me? Don't you know by now that I want you to be my girl?"

Raven smiled bashfully at the King. "Now I do. Heh."

The King kissed her softly and said, "Good. Now, let's get you back into the bed, ok? You need your rest."

Raven nodded and slowly laid herself back onto the bed. "Lay with me?" she pleaded.

The King chuckled and began to get out of his metal armor. Once he was out and in nothing but his briefs, he crawled into the small bed with her and pulled the blanket over the both of them. He put an arm behind her head as she snuggled into his chest as best she could with a broken leg. He kissed the top of her head and they both shut their eyes.


	28. Hearts of Stone

It had been a few days now since Raven showed up at Nellis base, and her leg was pretty much healed. She could walk around, finally, but she had a slight limp in her step. Raven was hoping that would go away with time. The doctor assured her it would. The Boomers had been kind enough to let the King, Rex, Boone, and the King's men stay while Raven got better. But now that was better, it was time for the King and everyone else to leave. This saddened Raven but she didn't let it show. Now she could get going with the stuff that Mother Pearl wanted her to do. Between having to be a match maker between some guy named Jack and some girl from the Crimson Caravan, and fighting off giant ants to get the generators working again, Raven was actually enjoying herself. The courier felt as if she was actually contributing to something. The Boomers had taken her in and tended to her as if she was one of their own despite their policy against outsiders, and that was ok in Raven's book. The best mission of all, however, was getting the fighter plane out of Lake Mead. That would be one hell of a story to tell back in Freeside.

Once that was all done, she got to talk to Mother Pearl again. And somehow, in all the craziness, Raven managed to get the Boomer's loyalty in the "upcoming battle". Actually, it seemed more like they were pledging their allegiance to _her,_ which she didn't mind at all. Nothing like a bunch of bombers to have your back. Raven said her goodbyes to everyone and set off back to Freeside, slightly limping in the process. The trek back to the city wasn't that long or hard to do, but with her complaining shin, Raven needed to have little breaks every now and then. The sun beat down on her face and the sweat dripped down to her neck as she sat, opening her small pack and grabbing a bottle of purified water. Raven drank some water, then splashed some on her neck and face. She leaned her back against a boulder and shut her eyes, just wanting to take a little rest. Luckily she was in the shade right now and it wasn't as hot. A few minutes went by when the girl suddenly heard a noise.

Her eyes opened up and she immediately grabbed her cowboy repeater. The sound came from behind the boulder. She stood up slowly and aimed her gun at the horizon. It was a radscorpion. A big radscorpion coming her way. Raven cocked her gun, looked down the sights, and pulled the trigger. The bullet grazed the radscorpion's shell. It locked onto her and she grumbled. Damn. Her aim was getting rusty. Raven holstered her rifle and pulled out her fireman ax. When in doubt...Raven appeared from behind the boulder, ready to chop this creature into tony pieces. The scorpion got close enough to try and sting he, but she dodged and smacked one of the creature's claws. It came off and a loud shriek was heard from the scorpion. Raven swung her ax again and this time, lodged it right into the beast's brain. The body immediately slumped and went limp. Raven pulled the ax out of the body and sighed, wiping her brow.

Raven continued along her journey to Freeside, watching the buildings get closer to her. Soon she was at the gates of Freeside and they opened. Raven walked through the familiarity of something resembling home. Her home. As they say, home is where the heart is. And it seemed her heart belonged to the King at this point. She pondered this for a while, trying to fight against the truth.

" _Admit it,"_ she thought. _"You're falling in love with him."_

Raven shook her head. She wasn't going to worry about that now. And she certainly wasn't going to tell him how she felt. Not yet, at least. Before she knew it, Raven had found herself outside the King's School of Impersonation. As much as she wanted to see her boyfriend, Raven knew she had to report back to Ambassador Crocker. Could she even call the King her boyfriend now? Well, they were officially together now, so...yes. She could refer to him as that now. As she debated on whether or not to see him, the King poked his head out the door and saw her. He smiled and walked up to her.

"Hey there. Glad to see you're doing better." He grasped her hand and kissed the top of it gently.

Raven blushed. "Yes, I'm doing better."

The King wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. "I missed you."

Raven blushed even harder now. "I missed you too, but King...people are staring at us."

The King shrugged. "So what? You're my girl. Let them stare. No one's going to tell me that I can't have a girlfriend."

"Pacer might."

The King laughed and kissed her gently. "Well, Pacer is not the boss of me, babe. Don't tell me you're embarrassed by me?"

"Goodness, no! Nothing like that. I'm just not used to this, that's all." Raven kissed him. "But if you have no problems with public displays of affection, then I'll strive to get used to it."

This brought on another kiss from the King. "Good. Now, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."

"Could it wait? I need to go report back to the Ambassador."

The King huffed. "All right, but I expect you back here when you're done."

"Ooh," chided Raven. "Is that an order, Mr King?"

"Yes," he replied. He leaned in and whispered into her ear, "I'll have 'other' orders for you when you get back."

"Oh really?"

"Uh huh."

"Well," she said. "I better hurry, then."

A few more kisses were made before Raven slipped out of his arms and started walking away. The King watched her go with a big grin on his face. As he slipped back inside his building, Raven chuckled to herself. Oh yeah. She was definitely falling in love. Soon, she reached the gates for the New Vegas Strip. They opened and she walked through. Soon she walked down the Strip toward the NCR Embassy. She walked in and made way toward the Ambassador's office. Raven knocked on the door and Crocker perked his head up.

"Come in." Raven went and sat down on the other side of his desk. "It's good to see you again, Miss Wagner. What can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about the Boomers."

"I hope you've returned with good news," he said. "Are they willing to help the NCR?"

Raven smiled a little. "The Boomers have agreed to help me."

"Excellent work. I can't tell you how useful that will be. In any event, I have another assignment and waiting for you."

Raven held up both hands. "I'm all ears."

"As you may have noticed," the Ambassador started, "our position here in New Vegas is tenuous. We've made great strides, sure, but the NCR is not welcomed here, merely tolerated. And even then, not by everyone. We've had reports of violence against NCR citizens in a neighborhood just to the northeast called Freeside. Ever been there?"

Raven sighed, nodding. _"How the hell else do you think I got to the Strip? I had to go through Freeside to get here, didn't I?"_ she thought to herself. "I have. It's a slum." she said.

"I'm inclined to agree, but it's a slum with NCR citizens in it, and as such falls under my jurisdiction. Violence is something of a way of life there, but there's been a disturbing rise in the number of attacks on our people lately. More worrying is the fact that our sources suggest the violence is being perpetrated by the gang that runs the place, the Kings."

" _Oh shit,"_ thought Raven.

"I need someone to look into this that won't attract attention. Would you be interested?"

Raven sighed, feeling her heart sink into her stomach. "I'll need some details first before I decide."

"Okay. Our men have come up with two different plans for seeing an end to the violence. First, our sources have tracked most of the attacks back to a King named Pacer. The consensus is that the violence will stop if he's removed."

" _Fuck. Option 2 needs to be better than option 1."_

"The problem is that we can't simply kill him. In the current climate, the NCR would likely be blamed for his death. There is an alternative option, but my sources feel that getting rid of this Pacer fellow is our best shot."

Raven thought about this for a moment. As much as she'd enjoy having Pacer 'gone', there was no chance in hell she was going to kill him. Ever. Despite his flaws, Pacer was the King's best friend. Pacer was obnoxious, but very loyal to the King. She had to respect that. Besides, the King would never forgive her for doing such a thing.

"What is my other choice?" she asked.

The Ambassador nodded. "I'm not a violent man myself, so I had our guys come up with an alternative solution on the off chance that our agent-to-be shared my sentiments. In that case, we can take a different tack, but one that I at least have more experience with – diplomacy. If we can't go after the man responsible, we'll simply appeal to the man above him. The Kings, including our friend Pacer, report to the leader of their gang, a man who calls himself the King."

"What would I need to do?"

"Go and talk to the King, try to convince him to put an end to this violence. Pacer's a punk, but he won't likely disobey a direct order. The King might not be open to the idea at first, so you may have to ingratiate yourself with him. Do whatever it takes. When it's done, one way or the other, report back here and we'll take it from there."

Raven stood from the seat, trying her best to remain cool and collected. "I guess I better go talk to the King, then."

The Ambassador sighed with relief. "I wish you luck. If you run into some difficulty and think you'd rather just take the shot with Pacer, that's fine too."

* * *

The King sat down on his bed with Rex, waiting for Raven to get back. She'd been gone for some time now, and he was starting to get a little worried. It was at that moment when she walked through his door and he smiled at her.

"Hey there, sweetheart. I was beginning to...worry..." he noticed the look on her face, which was quite grim looking. "Are you all right?"

Raven sighed. "Not exactly. I've just heard some pretty disturbing news."

The King stood and walked to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Raven looked into his eyes, swallowing hard. "I went to report to the Ambassador...and...well..." she lowered her head a little. "...They actually wanted me to speak to you."

"Oh?"

Raven lifted her head. "Yeah. Long story short, I need you to stop the violence against the NCR citizens."

The King backed up. "Whoa...that's a doozy. Truth be told, I don't even know if I can pull something like that off."

"But the Kings will follow your leadership." she pointed out.

"Damn straight they will. It's some of the other locals that I'm worried about." The King paced a little, then sighed, looking at her. Raven looked...disappointed. And that look alone made his heart sink. "I'd like to help you out, especially considering all you've done and the fact that you're my girl, but that's just...I can't do it."

"I see," said Raven. With that, she began to turn and walk out but the King stopped her.

"Now just wait a cotton-pickin' minute, here," he said. "What exactly did the Ambassador say to you?"

Raven shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"The hell it doesn't, missy. Now tell me what's going on."

Raven looked up at him with sad green eyes. "I'm trying to find a peaceful resolution between your guys and the NCR. That's all. And since you won't oblige...I'm just going to have to find another way."

"What does that mean?"

Raven sighed, and the facade that she had the day they had met returned on her face. The King had hoped she was past that by now, but her eyes were cold as stone. "I'm not going to tell you. Now I need to go." and she pulled away from him.

The King didn't stop her from walking out.


	29. A Mess of Blues

A knock was heard on Ambassador Crocker's door. He looked up and saw the courier, smiling at her. He waved her in, barely noticing the expression on her face until she sat down. The woman looked like she had bad news. He sighed and rubbed his hands on his face. Then he began to talk.

"I trust you have something to report concerning the Freeside situation?" he asked.

The girl took her time to talk. Ambassador Crocker saw her fidgeting. "The King won't deal with the NCR."

This knowledge seemed to pain her. "That's most unfortunate. In this circumstance I've been instructed to send you along to Colonel Moore over at Hoover Dam for further orders. The Colonel will likely send you back to Freeside with a squad of armed men, for all the good that will do."

"Sending NCR soldiers into Freeside would be a bad idea," said Raven.

"I completely agree," he replied. "Even if a riot didn't immediately break out, a line will have been crossed, and we'll have made that many more enemies. I suggest you speak to Colonel Hsu over at Camp McCarran. He's much more level-headed about this sort of thing. He's also in a better position to bargain with the people of Freeside, seeing as how's he in charge of water and power distribution in the area. Still, I'm only mentioning it as an option. My official orders are to direct you to Colonel Moore. Godspeed."

The girl nodded and got up from her chair. "I appreciate the help, Ambassador."

"Miss Wagner," he said. "Is there something bothering you about this?"

"Well..."

* * *

Raven left the office practically in tears. This did not bode well for the King. What was she going to do? Raven had to think of something. She knew her best bet for a peaceful resolution was to go to Colonel Hsu. Based on the Ambassador's recommendation, it was definitely a better choice to go to him than to this 'Colonel Moore' person. Raven walked down the Strip with her hands in her pockets, kicking at a stray tin can along the way. This really sucked. There was no reason for her to doubt the Ambassador's word, but still, he was NCR. Raven didn't really trust them as much as she could have, but she knew they were doing the best they could. Raven began to make her way through the Strip to the gates, then through Freeside. She walked as fast as she could past the King's place, and went to the entrance of Freeside. She exited out into the Mojave Wasteland and made her way to Camp McCarran. She asked around for Colonel Hsu and was directed to his office. She knocked on his door and the door opened shortly after. An asian looking man in an army beret and NCR armor stood before her. He looked her up and down, his brow crinkling with confusion.

"I'm usually good with faces, but I don't think I've seen you here before. What brings you to Camp McCarran?"

"Ambassador Crocker said to come see you about the situation with the Kings in Freeside." said Raven.

"Ah, that." He said, and motioned her inside. "I'm surprised he didn't send you to Colonel Moore. That'd be her jurisdiction."

Raven walked in and ran a hand over her face. "He said those were his official orders, but suggested seeing you anyway."

"Because he's looking to avoid a bloodbath. I get it. He knows me." the Colonel chuckled a little. "All right. Moore's not gonna like it. But that's for Crocker to worry about. Go to the leader of the Kings and tell him that I'll make sure Freeside gets more water, power, and food as long as the violence there stops."

Raven's jaw dropped. "Just like that? Really?"

"You have my word."

Raven really liked this man. She had a sudden urge to hug him to death but decided against it. "Thank you, sir. I really appreciate this." and she ran out the door. She had to hurry.

* * *

The King sighed as he scratched Rex's neck. He was sitting in the stage room watching one of his Kings performed, but the King felt that he couldn't concentrate. Perhaps he should have considered Raven's proposal more carefully. He didn't like putting her in a bad position, but...still, he had to stick to his guns. He didn't really like the NCR or their current tactics about dealing with Freeside. Sure, they had their moments where they were really good, but as far as Freeside went, they were treating it like no good slum. Freeside may have been a slum, but it was _his_ neighborhood. He didn't like the total lack of respect for his neck of the woods. Suddenly there was a commotion in the other room and Rex barked in that direction. The King sighed, wondering if Pacer had tried to charge someone to see him again. Suddenly NCR soldiers burst into the room, guns aimed at every King in the room. The King stood up angrily.

"What the hell? What is the meaning of this?" he asked loudly.

One soldier took a step forward. "You're to stay here until our representative arrives! That's an order!"

The King slammed a fist on his table. "What representative? What is going on?"

No one answered his questions, but it was shortly after that Raven ran into the room out of breath. The King widened his eyes in shock as she looked around the room. "What the hell is going on here?" she asked. "You guys weren't supposed to show up before me!"

The King just stared at Raven. Was she responsible for this? He took a step toward her. "Okay. I need some answers, now. These guys just barged in here and said they were under orders to keep me here until you arrived. I'm about five seconds away from telling my men to take them down, so speak fast."

"I've been..." Raven bent over, really out of breath. The King was worried that she might collapse. "...I've...been...instructed...to offer you...more resources... in exchange..." she stood back up, wiping her brow. "...in exchange for your word that...the violence stops."

The King blinked. "That...that sounds fair. And all I have to do is try to tone down the attacks on the Squatters, you say?"

"King, that's all you have to-"

She was interrupted by Pacer. "This is bullshit! Why are we even talkin' about dealing with these guys?"

The King turned to Pacer. "This isn't really a good time to have this discussion."

"Wrong! This is exactly the right time," yelled Pacer. "I'm about to prevent you from making a huge mistake."

"Pace, don't do this," the King pleaded. "I won't stand with you if you do."

"Then I stand on my own, just like I always have, " said Pacer. "Just like a King should."

Suddenly Pacer pulled out his pistol and aimed his gun at the King. Rex growled and cowered. The King held up his hands. "Pace, what the hell are you doing?"

"I didn't want it to come to this, old friend, but I'm relieving you of your title as the King. I'm the new King now."

Just when Pacer was about to pull the trigger, a bullet grazed his arm and he dropped the gun. Raven cocked her repeater and shot Pacer in the leg. The King watched as Pacer went down on his knees. Pacer reached for his pistol and aimed it at Raven. Raven pulled the trigger on her rifle and shot Pacer in the head. The man fell to the floor lifeless and the King watched in a mixture of relief and horror. His best friend was now dead, but Raven had just saved the King's life. Raven lowered her rifle and looked at the King with a frown. The King could tell from the guilt on her face that she was deeply saddened by all this. He couldn't really fault her at this point, but the King was not exactly happy with her at the moment.

The King turned to the NCR officers next. "Tell your superiors that I accept your terms. Now everyone get out." The NCR soldiers nodded and began to thin out, along with the rest of the Kings. Rex stayed in his place by the table and Raven began to walk out when the King stopped her. "Except you, woman. You stay put."

Raven cringed and stopped where she was. When everyone had left except the King and herself, Raven turned back around to look at him. "Are you going to be ok?" she asked.

"I...I can't believe Pace is gone," said the King. "He was always right here, you know? Always crackin' me up with some story or another..." He sat down in a chair and held his head in his hands.

He felt Raven's presence get close to him and he felt a hand on his shoulder. "...I'm sorry it came to this, King. Really, I...I don't know what to say."

The King sat up and looked up at her. "You saved my life, you know. I'm grateful for that...but..." he sighed, shaking his head. "You're going to have to give me some time alone right now. I need time to...to deal with this."

"I understand." The girl kissed the King on his forehead, then turned and walked out of the room. Rex whimpered as she left.


	30. If You Think I Don't Need You

It had been one week since Pacer's death, and Raven was stuck in her room at the Lucky 38 in a drunken stupor. Boone had left her alone for the most part, but there were a few times where he tried to get her sober and level headed. He had failed all those times. Raven was inconsolable at this point. She had managed to kill her boyfriend's best friend and she was not happy about it. Even if it was to save the King's life, she felt incredibly guilty and Boone knew this. He'd gone through something similar before, and watching it happen to Raven was not something he enjoyed. So he did the one thing he knew would help her out: go see the King and talk to him about it.

He walked into the King's School of Impersonation and looked around for the King. As usual, the King was in the stage room with Rex, watching one of his Kings perform. Boone walked over to the King and sat down in the chair at the same table as him. Rex growled once, then ignored Boone. Rex really hated guys with hats. The King looked at Boone and sighed.

"Hello, Boone. How are you doing?" asked the King.

"I'm all right. How about yourself?"

The King took a drink of his Nuka-Cola. "I'm fine, all things considered."

"Hm."

They both watched one of the Kings on stage in silence for a good while. Neither one of them wanting to say what was on their minds first. In this case, Boone was a much more patient man. He felt awkward just sitting here, but he wasn't going to speak until the King spoke up about Raven. Finally the King broke the silence.

"How is she?" asked the King.

Boone took a deep breath. "Why don't you go see for yourself?"

"That bad, huh?"

Boone nodded. "You really should go talk to her."

"And what would I say to her, exactly? That she shouldn't feel bad for killing my best friend?"

Boone scoffed. "She did save your life, you know."

"Be that as it may, it's still her fault that Pacer's dead."

"Even though he was going to shoot you."

"...That's debatable."

"Bullshit."

The King grunted and took a drink of his cola, then stood up. "I'm not ready to speak to her."

Boone stood up as well. "Well, I don't know how much longer she's going to be around so you better go talk to her soon."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked the King, now genuinely concerned. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that once she's good and sober, Raven's gonna go after the guy that shot her in the head, and she probably won't make it back alive."

"That's absurd. Raven doesn't go on...suicide missions."

Boone chuckled. "Then you don't know her very well. You don't seem to understand that the girl has a death wish. Literally." Boone pressed his hands on the table and leaned forward a little. "She told me that she wanted to die...wanted to correct the mistake that this 'Benny' guy made when he failed to kill her. But that was before she met you."

"I don't understand."

"Why the hell do you think she's been going around doing all these favors for people? It's her last will and testament or some shit like that. To make people's lives better before she dies. And soon she's going to go to the Tops casino and kill this Benny guy and probably get herself killed in the process. But some time after she met you and got close with you, she stopped talking about doing that mission. Hell, when you two started dating, she stopped talking about revenge completely. You were giving her a reason to not die, understand?"

The King sat back down in his chair, looking shocked. "I...I didn't realize she...alright. I'll go talk to her."

Just then, a cowboy Securitron came rolling in. Everyone turned their heads and stared at the machine. The robot rolled up to the King. "Well, this must be the man they call the King. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mr. King." the southern accent was thick in the voice.

"Who are you?" asked the King.

"Oh, my name is Victor. I just came rollin' into town lookin' for Mr. Boone because Miss Wagner asked me to give him a message."

Boone took a step toward the robot. "What was the message?"

The robot stood still and his face went blank. Soon a green line appeared on the screen and it started to wiggle as a few inaudible sounds were heard from it.

"Hey, Boone. I uh...by the time you get this message, I won't be at the Lucky 38 anymore. I'll be heading to the Tops to go after Benny. You and I...we had a really good run, buddy. We always had each other's backs from day one." A small laugh was heard, and Boone sat down in his chair. "I'm not going to get all mushy on you or anything, but...well...in my entire life, you were the best friend I'd ever had, Boone. A real pal, that you were. But...if you could do me this one last favor and do something for me? Nothing too big, I suppose. But...tell the King that I..." there was a long pause and a hush of breath before the message continued, "tell the King that I'm sorry for Pacer, for everything that I did wrong. Tell him that he made me so happy..." the sounds of small cries were heard, and the King lowered his head in shame. The message continued on. "Thank him for me, for teaching me how to...how to love, like really love, for the first time in my life. Thanks, Boone. And if there is an afterlife, I'll be lookin' down on you, pal. I'll always have your back."

The message ended and Victor's face reappeared on the screen. The King stared blankly at Victor for a few moments, in total shock of what he'd just heard. Hearing her voice again really shook him. And the message...oh, the message she left was heart breaking. His eyes began to water but he quickly shook himself and stood up. He turned to Boone.

"Well, what are we waiting for? If we hurry, we might be able to catch her before she goes through with it."

* * *

Raven arrived at the Tops casino with a heavy but satisfied heart. This was the end for her, and she knew it. But she wasn't that sad about the whole thing. Raven had learned some valuable lessons and she was going to die a happy and fulfilled woman. Sure, she was only twenty three years old, but only the good die young, right? She swallowed hard, not sure why she was feeling so nervous now. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest, Raven thought it was going to jump right out. She opened the door of the casino and walked in slowly, looking around to survey the area. There were a couple of men at the desk and one of them noticed her. He smiled at Raven cheerfully. They chatted for a bit, and after a little sweet talking, Raven got to keep her weapons instead of relinquishing them. She left the front desk and walked into the casino further, only to find the checkered suit that she'd been chasing after ever since she left Goodsprings. Her hand to her side, Raven slowly made her way toward the man. Her heart continued to race to the point of hurting, and she stopped dead in her tracks when Benny finally noticed her. His face went pale and he began to stutter.

"What in the goddamn...? Let's keep this in the groove, hey? Smooth moves, like smooth little babies..."

Raven smiled gently. "Seems you need to work on your marksmanship," she said.

Benny gulped. "I hit what I was aiming for. Guess you had brains to spare. Or are you just thick-skulled? Either way, baby, this is good news. Maybe I can finally sleep at night, knowing you didn't die. What say you and me cash out, go somewhere more private-like? Any questions you got, I'll answer."

Raven considered this for a moment. She knew he was trying to wiggle his sorry ass out of this by setting a trap. She wasn't stupid. Naive, maybe, but not stupid. But at this point, she didn't care. Raven didn't plan on making it out alive anyway.

"What'd you have in mind?" she asked.

"To start, I'll comp you the Presidential – best suite in the house. You deserve a taste of the VIP lifestyle. I'll hang out down here for a while to make everything look business-as-usual, then come to you. Any questions you got, I'll answer – guaranteed."

Raven nodded. "Two conditions – lose the bodyguards, and we both go to the suite now."

"If that's what it takes to win your trust, that's what it takes. Follow me."

* * *

The King and Boone ran through the Strip toward the Tops casino. The King was praying he was not too late to save Raven. To hell with what she did. He didn't want to be the one responsible for her death. But it was more than that. He loved her. He was certain of it. To live without her was like...he was too busy running to even think of an analogy. They both reached the Tops casino and barged in. The guy at the desk waved them down.

"Woa, woa! Slow down, guys. What's the big hurry?"

The King walked up to the desk and grasped the man by his shirt collar. "There was a woman that came in earlier. Young, with black hair. Green eyes. Caucasian. Have you seen her?"

The man gulped and began to stutter. "Y-y-yeah. I saw her. She went up with Benny to the Presidential Suite a few minutes ago."

"Give me the key to the room."

"S-sure. Here." The man reached under the counter for a key and handed it to the King.

The King let go of the man and Boone and him went running toward one of the elevators. It wasn't that hard to miss. They put the key in and the elevator door opened. They both walked in and pressed the button for the Presidential Suite. The doors closed and the elevator began to go up. The King paced back and forth in the elevator, wishing it would go faster. Boone pulled out his rifle and the King pulled out his revolver. They both aimed it at the elevator door as it stopped. The King took a few deep breaths and when the door opened, he was about to pull the trigger, but Raven was standing right there in front of them, her gun raised to them. Bodies littered the floor of the suite and blood stains were everywhere. The King, Boone, and Raven all lowered their guns. Raven smirked at the King.

"Couldn't turn down a damsel in distress, could you?" she asked.

The King chuckled. "Smart ass."

Raven holstered her gun and looked around the room. "Yes, sir. That I am."

"Are you ok, Raven?" asked Boone.

"Oh, I'm fine. But the bastard got away. Should've just killed him where he stood instead of hearing him out."

"What'd he say?" asked the King.

"Something about ruling all of New Vegas and all that shit. Sounded like a good offer but me being the trusting little gal that I am, took his word for it to cut me in on a piece. When he left, he'd sent up some of his goons to take care of me. Nothing I couldn't handle, of course."

"That was stupid." said Boone.

"Yeah, no shit." replied Raven.

The King sighed. "Raven, might I have a word with you in private?"

Raven looked at the King with an eyebrow raised. "Oh, now you want to talk?"

"Raven, please?"

She shrugged and motioned for Boone to make himself scarce. Boone raised a hand and walked back into the elevator. "I'll be downstairs waiting for you guys," he said.

Once Boon left, Raven walked over behind the bar and pulled out two glasses and some whiskey. "Want some?" she asked.

The King walked over to the bar and took a seat. "Lay it on me, babe."

Raven poured them both a small amount and they clinked their glasses together before taking their shots. "All right," she said. "What did you want to talk about?"

The King ran a hand through his hair and then rubbed the back of his neck. "Why did you want to die?"

Raven leaned over the bar and looked the King dead in the eye. "Maybe I'll tell you that one day. Just not now."

"Raven..."

"King, please." she held up a hand and shut her eyes. "Just leave it, ok?"

The King grasped her hand and kissed it gently. "All right, but answer me this. Do you still want to die?"

Raven stared at the King for a few moments, then shook her head. "No, I don't."

"Why?"

Raven lowered her head, keeping her gaze away from the King. "I think you already know the answer to that question, King."

The King stood up and leaned in, kissing her a few times on the cheek. "I was so fucking scared, Raven. That...when you...when I got up here, I thought you were..." he choked up a bit and forced her to look at him. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?"

Raven nodded at him, tears threatening to spill. "Ok."

The King kissed her desperately on the lips, and she kissed back. "I'm so sorry I didn't talk to you, babe. I was just so upset over Pace's death."

"Are you still upset?"

"Not enough to let you kill yourself," he replied.

Raven and the King kissed each other passionately, and Raven climbed over the bar to him. They held each other and the King lifted her off the bar and took her toward the suite's bed. He tossed her onto it and hovered over her, kissing her gently on her neck. Raven wrapped her arms and legs around him as she lay on her back, enjoying the sweet kisses on her neck. Soon they began to undress each other and as soon as they were both lacking clothes, the King entered Raven. She moaned gently and he kissed her mouth smoothly, and he began rocking back and forth in rhythm with her. With each thrust, they both moaned and groaned in unison. Raven grasped the back of his hair and pulled his mouth closer to hers, and the King just couldn't get enough of her. He held her close and kept kissing her, breathing heavily into her mouth and grunting in pleasure. He suddenly lifted her up and sat down on the bed, letting her take the lead now. Her hands went to his shoulders and her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist. Raven kissed the King madly and he wrapped his arms around her again as she bounced up and down on his member. The sweat began to appear on their bodies and they breathed heavily together. They went at this for a long time before the King finally felt his seed coming close. Raven's body began to shake heavily and soon her insides clenched around him and she almost screamed out in sweet agony. It was soon after that the King let himself go as well and he moaned into her neck sweetly. They held onto each other for a few more minutes, both shaking and breathing together. Raven kissed the King on his neck and whispered something into his ear.

The King smiled and whispered back, "I love you too."


End file.
